Announcing the Spiked! Champagne Recipe Challenge Winner!!

So seriously.  So many of you brought your A-game to Julie & I's first ever Spiked! Recipe Challenge.  You all definitely did not make it easy for us to crown a champ. ;)

This month's Spiked! ingredient was champagne.  So many of you came up with some very creative (not to mention tasty looking!) recipes.  

So, without further adieu here are the Spiked! Champagne Recipe Challenge runner-ups (in no particular order)...

Mimosa Fudge from Mom's Test Kitchen

Strawberry Champagne Cake from Crazy for Cookies and more

And the winner of the first ever Spiked! Recipe Challenge is...

Blackberry & Champagne Cheesecake with a Champagne Jelly 'Lid' from Craftbotic!!!

Congratulations Rosie!!  What an amazing and decadent use of champagne!  Julie and I will be in touch with you shortly to get you hooked up with your featured ad spots with each of us for the month of February. :)

Julie and I would love to thank each and every one of you who entered this month's Spiked! Recipe Challenge.  We had 17 total champagne laced entries for our first challenge.  I created a special Pinterest board for all of the Spiked! recipes, so please feel free to CLICK ON OVER and check them all out (and pin away while you are at it ;) ).  

Julie and I will be back again in March with an all new Spiked! Recipe Challenge!  We will announce that month's libation of choice on the first Tuesday of the month.  (Be thinking St. Patrick's Day, folks. ;) )

If you would like to see more information on the Spiked! Recipe Challenge, please click HERE to view the Spiked! page on my blog. 

Spiked! Champagne Recipe Challenge- Time to Link Up, Folks!

Hello all!  Julie and I are so excited to see what awesome and delicious champagne recipes you have come up with for our very first Spiked! Recipe Challenge! 

To get the ball rolling, I am sharing with you my recipe for a Chicken Pasta with a Champagne Cream Sauce...

What you will need:

1 lb of chicken breasts, sliced into 1 inch wide strips

Salt & pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small shallot, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup champagne, plus a few splashes for poaching the chicken (I used an Asti.)

1/2 cup half 'n half

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Season the chicken strips with salt and pepper.  Once the butter is melted add the chicken strips to the pan.  Brown the strips on each side, then add a few splashes of champagne to the pan.  Cook the chicken for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium and to that same pan add the garlic and shallots.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.  Pour in the 1/3 cup champagne and the lemon juice and cook for about 3 minutes.  Turn down heat to medium-low and then add the half 'n half.  Whisk in the cornstarch.  Cook the sauce for a few minutes to allow it to thicken.  

Add the chicken back to the sauce in the pan and continue to cook until the chicken is done and heated through.  Be sure to taste your sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve the chicken and Champagne Cream Sauce over your choice of pasta.  I served mine over a whole wheat thin spaghetti.  Enjoy!

Okay, you all... now your turn!  What fabulous champagne creations did you come up with??

Be sure to review the all the rules on the Spiked! Recipe Challenge Page and make sure you have included the Spiked! button in your entry post. :)

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The linky is only open for 2 days! Once the linky closes, no more recipe submissions will  be accepted!  Please check back on January 22nd here and at This Gal Cooks for the announcement of the Spiked! Champagne Recipe Challenge winner!

Spiked! ~Champagne Recipe Challenge~

Happy New Year All & welcome to the very first ever Spiked! Recipe Challenge! 

It is no big secret that myself and my good foodie blogger friend, Julie from This Gal Cooks  love to cook and bake with alcohol.   Don't believe me?  Then make sure to check out my recipes for Slow Cooker Beer Braised Pot Roast and Framboise Raspberry Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Buttercream.  Or Julie's Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes and Cheddar Beer Bread.  

Julie & I have teamed up to bring you all an all new recipe challenge with a twist (of lime or lemon, if you please ;) )- your recipe must feature the alcoholic beverage being spotlighted that month! Every two months there will be a new Spiked! Recipe Challenge with a new featured boozy beverage.  January's featured ingredient is....  Champagne!  It only seems appropriate.  ;)  The New Year is always heralded in with a flute of the bubbly, right?

Image Source

So, let's get to the rules...

Julie and I would like for you to follow us via one of our many social media outlets.  Your choice- GFC, Bloglovin, RSS feed, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest... you get the idea.  Plus, following us both will keep you in the loop about upcoming dates for the challenges, announcements of winners, and so on.

You need to sign up by adding a link to your blog's home page in the linky at the end of this post.  Be sure to include your email address when adding your link- this is how we will email you all updates and reminders for the contest!

You must have the Spiked! button in your recipe post to be considered as an entrant.  It would also be SUPER awesome if you included the button on your sidebar, but it is not a requirement to win. ;)

<a href="http://www.thefrugalfoodiemama.com/p/spi.html"><img border="0" src="http://i1163.photobucket.com/albums/q543/jmurkerson/SPIKEDRECIPECHALLENGE_zps72efc014.png" /></a>

The recipe you submit MUST BE YOUR OWN.  You can be inspired by another's recipe (and please include a link back somewhere in your post to that original recipe), but you must make that recipe your own in some way.

The recipe must feature the beverage of choice.  This month's Spiked! ingredient is Champagne.  Your recipe can be anything BUT a drink recipe.  You must cook or bake with the Spiked! ingredient.  

You must link up your Champagne recipe when the linky goes live on January 15, 2013 to be considered for judging.  The linky will remain open for just two days.  No entries will be accepted past that date.

All recipes will be judged by myself and Julie from This Gal Cooks.  
The winner will be announced one week after the entry linky has closed and will be emailed as well as announced on each of our blogs.  

The winner of the Spiked! Challenge will receive bragging rights of course, but there are a few other perks...

A Frugal Foodie Friends ad spot (250 x 300) with Frugal Foodie Mama for 30 days (starting February 1st)- plus a spotlight post on Frugal Foodie Mama featuring the winner, their winning recipe, and their blog!

A Friends of This Gal Cooks ad spot (250 x 100) with This Gal Cooks for 30 days.

Important Dates to Remember:
January 1st- Sign-ups start
January 8th- Sign-ups end
January 15th- Linky opens to submit your recipe entries (You will have only the 15th and 16th to link up!)
January 22nd- The first ever Spiked! Champagne Recipe Challenge winner will be crowned!

Spread the word!  Send out a tweet about the contest... We have made it super easy with the nifty little button below:)

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