A Bonkers Breakup.. a Bottle of Red Wine & an Almost-Tragic Greek Chicken Fiasco

(How to save your chicken mid-cook;)

Finders keepers… When your ex leaves behind a great bottle of wine, it practically screams “drink me & forget about him!!”

I’d been wanting to make this Lemon + Greek Yogurt Chicken Marinade forever. And when the night finally came, I also remembered that my ex—who handled the end of our relationship with all the grace of a dropped hot lasagna—had forgotten a great bottle of wine at my house.

So I cracked it open immediately, long before any culinary chaos began, and started vibing in the kitchen with a delicious glass of red. 

And that’s where this juicy little Greek tragedy began.

What Went Down:

The Vibe:
I was sipping the wine, jamming in my kitchen to the tunes of Parisian Cafe, casually marinating chicken while thinking about mailing my ex a copy of a book titled “Breakups: You’re Doing It Wrong.” (it’s a real page-turner;)

The Mistake:
While too distracted thinking about the red wine and red flags, I accidentally tossed the Greek yogurt-marinated chicken straight into the hot skillet…completely forgetting to shake off the loads of excess Greek yogurt!

Cue the disaster:
The pan didn’t sizzle. It whispered, hissed, and immediately turned into a Greek yogurt bubble bath which – despite me being Greek – is NOT a good thing when raw chicken is floating in the middle of it. 

The Plot Twist:
Mid-bubble bath breakdown, I took another long sip of wine (still delicious, btw;), drained the pan with paper towels like a woman reclaiming her night, turned the heat to medium, added some olive oil, cursed my ex under my breath for unrelated reasons, and finally gave that chicken a chance to be all that it could be.

The Comeback Formula:

If your chicken is cooking more like it’s in a sous vide than in a sizzling hot pan, here is how I learned to salvage it: 

• Medium heat.
• No touching! (nod to Arrested Development;) Let the chicken sit untouched for 5 minutes per side and sear baby, sear! 
• Add olive oil mid-cook. This helps the searing process and gets the meat back on track.
• Finish with butter. As my late father, a chef, used to say: “The difference between a good chef and a great chef is a pound of butter.” 😉

The Result:

A full chicken makeover: from soggy, yogurt-drenched chaos to juicy, lemony chicken with a perfectly golden sear!

The wine? His.
The victory? All mine;)

❤️

If you also love cooking with wine (and sometimes even adding it to the food you’re making..), take a look at this article of The Best Wines to Cook With & Which to Avoid, and this overview of Cooking with Wine (including directions on when to actually add it to the food…;)