Travel Dish: Chef Curtis Stone on the Road

Travel Dish spotlights Michelin-star chefs, master mixologists and global gourmet treats that you can recreate at home.

Australian-born, Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur Curtis Stone is based in Los Angeles where he runs several restaurant concepts from Gwen Butcher Shop in Hollywood to The Pie Room by Gwen in Beverly Hills. You might also recognize Stone from television programs, such asBravo’s “Top Chef Masters,” or “Travel, Cook, Repeat,” and the Home Shopping Network where he whips up recipes with his bestselling cookware Kitchen Solutions. 

In “Field Trip with Curtis Stone,” currently streaming on Peacock, the crew travels from the country side of Umbria in Tuscany to the Margaret River in Western Australia and the Central Coast of California, among other locations.

In each episode, Stone visits with friends, wine-makers, farmers and purveyors to gain inspiration and ingredients for his famed tasting menus at Maude in Beverly Hills (currently on hiatus during the pandemic.)

Stone moved to Europe when he was 21, to further his education and classical culinary training under renowned chef Marco Pierre White, who was infamous for temperamental outburst in the kitchen (long before chef Gordon Ramsey was hosting “Kitchen Nightmares,”) so you might say, Stone was prepared for any bump in the road.

Chef Stone’s latest project is judging “CRIME SCENE KITCHEN” which just debuted this week on FOX. Hosted by actor and comedian Joel McHale, the concept is a baking competition series with a unique twist. The premise of the show is a culinary guessing game where bakers are challenged with decoding what type of dessert was made, when all that’s left are the crumbs, flour trails and a few clues.

The bakers must recreate the recipe for celebrity judges, Stone and cake artist Yolanda Gampp, who will determine how closely their sweet treat matches the missing dessert and how good it tastes.

Stone is also a New York Times best-selling author with six cookbooks, so he isn’t just an award-winning chef, but knows how to relay a recipe for the home cook. We decided to highlight the “Roast Chicken and Grapes with Burrata and White Wine Reduction” as inspired by a journey to Sonoma California from “Field Trip.” 

“In Sonoma I visited Ted Lemon of Littorai, a master of winemaking who appreciates the tenets of biodynamic farming,” said Stone. “I was there with the team during harvest and had the opportunity to sort grapes and do the daily punch-down which is a lot harder than it looks.” 

During this trip episode, Stone also visited with Jim Reichardt and his daughter, Jennifer, of Liberty Ducks. “They are raising animals that are prized among chefs across the country. To make the recipe a bit more accessible and home cook-friendly, I substituted chicken and added some creamy burrata to pair with the wine in the dish. The dish is an elevated crowd-pleaser.”

Roast Chicken and Grapes with Burrata and White Wine Reduction

By Chef Curtis Stone

Serves: 6  |  Prep Time: 10 minutes  |  Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken and Grapes:

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 shallots, halved
• 1 bunch red grapes on the vine, cut into clusters
• 5 large sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 ball burrata cheese or fresh mozzarella
• Flakey sea salt

White Wine Reduction Sauce:

• 1 cup Littorai vin gris, dry white wine, or rosé wine
• 2 large thyme sprigs
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons butter

Grilled stecca bread

Method

To roast chicken and grapes:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.
3. In heavy large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sear for about 5 minutes on each side, or until golden. Transfer chicken to baking sheet.
4. Add shallots to hot skillet, cut side down, and cook for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Add shallots, grape clusters, thyme, and rosemary to pan with chicken. Transfer baking sheet to oven and roast for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, to make wine reduction sauce:

Combine wine and thyme in medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Simmer for 4 minutes, or until wine is reduced by half. Add chicken stock and simmer 4 minutes, or until reduced by half. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter to blend. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

To serve:

Cut burrata in half and arrange on platter. Surround cheese with chicken, grapes, shallots, and herbs. Drizzled sauce over chicken and grapes and serve with stecca.