Blueberry Wine Chicken with Arugula

I love things bittersweet.

The same way The English Patient pulls your heartstrings is how I feel about Aperol, or dark chocolate, or this recipe for sweet blueberry wine and bitter herbs.

I think of it as balance. Because without the bitterness, how would you know what was sweet? So a combined mouthful or a mouthful of one followed by the other sets each off in contrast. Mclagan got it right in her appropriately titled cookbook.

This recipe is not from that book. And it’s not from that movie. But the principle is there. I think I like it as much as Ralph Fiennes, as much as Michael Ondaatje’s prose and much more than chocolate. Do you?

Blueberry Wine Chicken with Arugula

Serves 2

2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts or about 1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken
2 cups arugula, lemon balm, mint or other green, leafy herbs
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups blueberry aigre-doux (recipe below)

Method:
Divide warm rice between plates. Place hot chicken on top. Pour over aigre-doux. Divide arugula between plates. Wow, was’t that easy?

Blueberry Aigre-Doux 

You can can this for future use, but you can also skip the canning and sterilizing and use it fresh, in which case it’s ridiculously easy – just simmer all the ingredients together for 10 minutes and pour on top of rice and chicken above. 

1 bottle (750 mL) red wine
1/2 – 2/3 cup (125 – 140 g) sugar, to taste
1/3 cup (85 mL) red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp (2 g), Kosher or non-iodized salt (doesn’t matter which salt you use if you’re not canning)
Juice of 1 lemon
4 1/4 cups (680 g) fresh or frozen blueberries.

Method:
Sterilize 4 jars in a water bath canner or large stockpot so that the jars are covered by at least an inch of boiling water for 10 minutes. Leave in water until ready to use.

Reserve half a glass of wine for the chef (to judge its sweetness so you know how much sugar to add, mostly), then combine remaining wine with sugar, vinegar and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add most of the lemon juice, then taste and adjust sugar, vinegar or lemon if needed. Remove from heat but keep warm.

Soften new lids in hot, non-boiling water for 5 minutes.

Divide the berries among the clean, hot, sterilized jars. Pour the sauce over the berries to within ½-inch of the jar rims, reserving any extra. Remove air bubbles with a chopstick or long, non-metallic utensil and top up jars to ½-inch from the top if necessary. Wipe rims with a clean, wet cloth. Tighten rims to fingertip tight and boil jars for 15 minutes in a hot water canner.

Remove from heat but keep in canning pot for 5 minutes before removing. Cool to room temperature. Store in a dark place for up to a year, but refrigerate after opening. Or skip the hot water canner processing and pour hot jam into clean jars, let cool, and keep in the fridge for up to a month.