This hearty ragout is perfect for a cold fall or winter day, and delicious served over mashed potatoes.

Chicken Ragout Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup smoked bacon, thickly sliced and diced 1/2 inch wide
• 1/4 pounds brown or white button mushrooms, quartered
• 1 cup pearl onions, whole and peeled
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves or substitute 1/8 tsp dried
• 1.5 cups chicken or beef broth
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled

Chicken Ragout Instructions

1. Combine the flour with the salt and pepper to season. Add the chicken to the flour and toss to coat. Shake off the excess and set aside.
2. Heat a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients over medium high heat. When the pan is hot add the butter and when the butter has melted and is foaming add the chicken cubes. Brown the chicken on all sides, reducing the heat if the bottom of the pan starts to brown too quickly (which should take 4-6 minutes).
3. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and hold in a warm place. Pour off all the excess grease and add the bacon. Cook until the bacon has rendered some of its fat and is starting to crisp. Add the mushrooms and onions and toss to coat with the bacon fat. Cook until the mushrooms are a light golden brown and the onions have started to color.
4. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cook over high heat until the wine is completely reduced, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Greg and I have been obsessed with tasty and healthy sweet potatoes lately, and have incorporated it into the unlikeliest of places...like breakfast pancakes!

We went up to Fort Collins this weekend and had a great time. Here are some tips to make your trip up there even better:

1. get tickets to New Belgium early

We started the day with lunch at coopersmiths. Good food, good beer. Not bad. Unfortunately, we should have started the day around 11:30 at New Belgium getting tickets for the afternoon tours. Then we could have gone to lunch and then O'Dells and finished at New Belgium.

As it was, we took the "self-guided" tour of New Belgium, which was great, but not as good as a full tour.