Fillet

   The Sweet
   Taste of
   Dandelions

Luke Knowland

When Jill and I finally made it across the country to our new home in Boston last Friday, we were welcomed by a very empty apartment. The movers came with our stuff on Saturday, and my folks visited us on Sunday to help make some sense of the chaos, aided by housewarming bottle of champagne. We stashed the champagne in the fridge to chill for our first real meal.

Wednesday, I started my new top-secret job, and figured that a nice meal would be a good way to end the day. Of course, the fridge was just as empty as the apartment had been Friday, so I headed down to the Broadway Marketplace and gathered up some fixings for making Chicken Dijon.

I returned to my new kitchen and started preparing the meal as ususal: chopping the garlic, starting the rice, seasoning the chicken. At this point, I realized the one ingredient I needed to make a proper Chicken Dijon was missing, white wine.... Then I remembered, the fridge wasn't entirely empty.

A few months ago while still on the West coast, I was given a bottle of homemade Dandelion wine from Humboldt County, California. We went to Humboldt to work on a project called HITS. Up there, Kristin's mom, Mrs. Windbigler, presented us with a few bottles of this heirloom elixir and recounted the story of Dandelion wine. The beautiful little green glass bottle had a pressure stopper and delicate sediment settled at the bottom from three years of aging. The Dandelion wine came with us in the car when we moved, so it was one of the few things keeping the fridge from being completely empty (and keeping the champagne and the Brita water filter company). In lieu of white wine, I went for the Dandelion wine.

In a great moment of discovery, my Chicken Dijon transformed into Chicken Dandelion. The Dandelion wine added a flavor to the chicken and the sauce that I have never tasted before, somewhat sweet yet very earthy with a multitude of hints of other flavors - bitter then sweet, tangy then mellow. With basmati rice, a simple salad, and champagne, it was the perfect way to break in the new kitchen.

Mrs. Windbigler has been kind enough to provide us with her family's recipe for Dandelion wine. It takes three weeks to make the wine, so you'll have to be patient. (Of course, if you must be rash, you can go ahead with an older vintage of white wine from southern France, or a '92 Mondavi Chardonnay or Cabernet Blanc - you'll lose the right flavor, but achieve a comparable dryness and tanginess.)

Dandelion Chicken - serves two

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic, loosely chopped
1/2 small yellow onion, loosely chopped
3 small mushrooms, sliced
2T butter
2T olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt, pepper
Dill weed
3T À L'Ancienne Dijon mustard
1/2 cup of Dandelion wine

In a sauté pan, slowly heat the olive oil and butter, then add the garlic and onion, cooking until translucent. Add in half the lemon juice. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts, bring the flame up to medium heat, and place the chicken in the pan. Allow to cook for approximately five minutes, browning either side. Start cooking the rice.

Flip the chickens, add the remaining lemon juice and the mushrooms, and sprinkle a little dill weed over them. Stir in the Dijon mustard, and add the Dandelion wine. Allow to simmer for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, adding more dill to taste.

To serve, portion out a small amount of rice, and lay the chicken aside it, adding the sauce and the mushrooms on top. Sprinkle a little dill weed over the top of the chicken, and serve. A nice champagne (or sparkling wine) is an excellent accompaniment.

Enjoy.

Dandelion Wine

1 gallon dandelion blossoms
1 gallon hot water

Combine water and blossoms in a crock. Let stand for 24 hours, then strain. Next, add: Juice of 1 lemon
3 oranges, peeled and sliced
4 lbs of sugar
1 cake of yeast

Let the mixture set for 3 weeks, then bottle.

Luke Knowland has a new career in a new town, but we miss him in SF.