Recipes and Perfect Wine Pairings for Burgundy Poultry Dishes

The Domaine de Cromey is home to Elden Selections in Burgundy, named after its proprietors, Dennis and Ellie. While Dennis advises on the wines of the region, Ellie is highly knowledgeable about Burgundy and Italian haute cuisine. In 1983, she left the USA to delve into the secrets of French cuisine, but her passion for Italian cuisine runs just as deep due to her Italian heritage. Ellie's dedication to food and culinary culture is unwavering, and she and Dennis have shared this through their land-based tours and their cookbook, "At Home in Burgundy – the Papillon Recipes," named after their barge, Papillon. You can buy the cookbook here at this link. 

The cookbook includes a wide variety of recipes with wine pairing suggestions to complement Burgundy flavors and emphasizes using the best local produce. In this blog, we'll be focusing on Ellie's best recipes for Burgundy poultry dishes which are enjoyed at the Domaine de Cromey. However, the cookbook features a wide range of recipes, including those with fish, shellfish, cheese, salad, and desserts, each with wine pairing suggestions.  

Our Favourite Burgundy Poultry Dishes 

One of the featured dishes is the Citrus Cured Duck Breast with a Grapefruit, Fennel and Hazelnut Salad, which is especially delightful in the summer. (This first dish is classed in Ellie’s book as a starter but it could easily be made into a light main course too). Curing duck breast is much the same as curing salmon for the dish gravlax. Look for the best type of duck breast – magret – which is nice and thick. Once you’ve made the rub, cure the breast and keep it in the fridge for a day or so. The salad then provides a wonderful counterpoint to it, being a mixture of sweet, salty and umami.  

Sticking with the duck theme, another recipe you’ll want to try if you are a fan of Burgundy poultry dishes is Duck Breast with a Quince Paste Sauce. Again this uses magret meat – the breast of a duck fattened to produce foie gras. It’s a common cut of duck in France, but if you can’t find it where you live, then an ordinary large plump breast will do almost as nicely. For the quince paste you will probably have to venture to a speciality delicatessen and try their cheese counter, as you’ll often see it served with Manchego cheese. In this recipe, Ellie puts it to great use as an unctuous sauce to accompany the duck breast. It goes wonderfully with wild rice or black beans, along with a crisp green accompaniment like snow peas or watercress. Two wines go particularly well with this dish and they all come from the same winemaker – the Domaine Borgeot. First is their Santenay 'Vieilles Vignes' (one of the best red Burgundy wines on our website and so likely to sell out quickly); and then their Santenay 1er Cru 'Gravieres' (the name referencing the gravel soils these grapes grow in, which helps to give them a long clean finish). 

Another of our favourite Burgundy poultry dishes is the Roasted Quail with Cromey Garden Vegetables. The quail is cooked on the bone to preserve its rich flavor and is best paired with a Saint-Romain wine. We use vegetables from our potager (vegetable garden) here at Domaine de Cromey which are particularly delicious in late autumn. You can see a video of this dish and its pairing with wine on our YouTube channel at this link. 

For chicken lovers, the Slow Roasted Bresse Chicken, brined and roasted for maximum flavor, pairs well with a Monthélie wine from the Domaine Potinet-Ampeau, particularly the 1er Cru 'Champs Fulliots'. We make it with a lovely dauphinoise-gratin potato, root vegetables that are in season, and chips made from Jerusalem artichokes. A lot of this dish can be prepared in advance, so it makes for a very clever choice for a holiday dish if you’re cooking for guests too. At home we serve this in a simple ‘family style’ service, using platters or bowls for every dish. 

Finally, for a truly sumptuous game dish, Ellie recommends Wild French Squab, Pan-Seared Breast and Pie. Remember that different cuts of game bird cook at different rates. The breasts can be cooked quickly and separately, while the legs often require a longer, slower cooking technique. In this recipe, we make suet pastry for a pie, filled with root veg, offal and squab leg. The breasts are simply pan-fried to retain texture and maximum flavor. Squab can be substituted with other game birds such as pheasant, woodcock, grouse, or duck. When serving, give a hearty slice of pie, and one of breast, and serve with a good red Burgundy wine. For this dish, we need look no further than the Domaine Thierry Mortet, and one of his most special wines – the Bourgogne Rouge 'Les Charmes de Daix'. This is one of the best from among the 6000 bottles this producer makes each year. He uses an interesting variety of strains of Pinot grape, all of different ages, making this wine dense, smoky and with a wicked black cherry sweet-fruit edge.  

Sample Burgundy Gastronomy at Domaine de Cromey! 

The kitchen at Cromey is always open. Come on in and let’s talk about food! If you love cooking, our chefs can arrange cooking sessions to show you recipes and techniques that you can use to impress your friends and make great Burgundy poultry dishes. Interestingly, our most popular cooking demo doesn't take place in the kitchen — Cromey has a beautifully restored bread house with a huge wood-fired oven. You can learn wood-fired oven cooking techniques that will amaze you, and of course, enjoy the best pizza in the world. 

And when you’ve eaten your fill, why not try our tasting room too? We are passionate about wine tastings and take pride in offering unique experiences. With access to numerous small-production wineries, our tastings go beyond just promoting individual wines. Whether it's a casual gathering in our 16th-century cellars or a week-long master class, our tastings are educational and informative. You'll not only learn about the wines, but also the reasons behind their unique flavors. And of course, you'll do it all with a glass of wine in hand! 

We hope this article has given you lots of ideas for Burgundy poultry dishes. But we have lots more topics to read about on our BurgundyWine.com blog including How to Guides, producer spotlights and much more. Then over on our Burgundy Vacation blog we have articles on the best day trips to plan whilst you’re here, the lowdown on the greatest cycle routes we can offer, and articles on other fantastic recipes to try. And finally, you can join our Burgundy Wine Club, which will guarantee you an exclusive 10% discount on ALL wines available on burgundywine.com!