January 2, 2013 Dinner – Chicken in lobster cream sauce with steamed sugar snap peas

January 2, 2013 Dinner – Chicken in lobster cream sauce with steamed sugar snap peas

Today I went to Pro’s Ranch Market and bought bone-in chicken breasts ($1.19/lb.), broccoli ($.69/lb.), green onions (4 bunches for $.99), tomatoes (3 lb./$.99), 3 avocados (5 for $.99), and a few other things.

My idea for dinner was to make a Chinese stir fry with chicken and broccoli, but when Suzette arrived home, she had a different idea, which was to use the PPI lobster bisque and sauté the chicken with some green onion and red bell pepper and then use the lobster bisque to sauce it.

This is the beginning of our low calorie, low carbohydrate diet. 

I sliced three green onions and about two Tbsp. of red bell pepper and deboned the chicken and cut one breast into slices. 

Suzette then sautéed the ingredients and in a few minutes we had a hot delicious low carb dinner.

I opened a 1.5 liter bottle of St. Martin Réserve Sauvignon Blanc from Pays D’ Oc (Total Wine $11.99).  This wine is a monopole made from grapes grown in a number of different vineyards in the Pay d’ Oc area of southern France near the Mediterranean.  It is labelled as Pays d’ Oc - Indication Géographique Protégée.  Pays means “Country” in French. Here is some information on Country wines of France.

Vin de pays is a French term meaning "country wine". Vins de pays are a step in the French wine classification that is above the table wine (Vin de table) classification, but below Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and formerly below VDQS classifications. Legislation on the Vin de pays terminology was created in 1973 and passed in 1979,^[1] allowing producers to distinguish wines that were made using grape varieties or procedures other than those required by the AOC rules, without having to use the simple and commercially non-viable table wine classification. Unlike table wines, which are only indicated as being from France, Vin de pays carries a geographic designation of origin, the producers have to submit the wine for analysis and tasting, and the wines have to be made from certain varieties or blends. Regulations regarding varieties and labelling practices are typically more lenient than the regulations for AOC wines. In 2009, the Vin de pays classification was replaced by the new IGP - Indication Géographique Protégée, or Protected Geographical Region - designation.^[2]

There are three tiers of Vin de Pays: regional, departmental and local.^[1]

There are six regional Vins de Pays, which cover large areas of France. The most voluminous contributor to this category of wines is Vin de Pays d'Oc, from the Languedoc-Roussillon area in Mediterranean France.

So the Pays d’ Oc - Indication Géographique Protégée is part of a new classification system introduced in France around 2010 to designate wines grown in a specific region of the country, in a much larger geographic area than a local village Appelation Controlée or a specific single owner vineyard property.

The wine was clean tasting but without any character; perfect to wash down the delicate lobster cream sauce.

Bon Appétit