Coq au Vin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coq au Vin is a French dish of chicken braised with red wine, lardons, garlic and mushrooms. This is a hearty recipe which doubles as a stew for all your favorite sides. This dish is rich and full bodied. In this recipe, the chicken is accompanied with some steamed carrots for texture, color and balance.

INGREDIENTS:

(1) 6 Pieces of Chicken

(2) 1 Cup All Purpose Flour

(3) 3 Slices Bacon

(4) 1 Cup Pearl Onions (Or 1 Large Onion)

(5) 1-1/2 Cups Red Wine

(6) 3 Large Cloves of Garlic  (or 4 Regular Ones) (Grated)

(7) 1 Cup Chicken Broth. Recipe here

(8) 2 Carrots

(9) A Few Sprigs of Thyme

(10) 250 Grams White Button Mushrooms

(11) 1 Bay Leaf

(12) Salt and Pepper to Taste

(13) 2 Teaspoons of Olive Oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROCEDURE:

(1) Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

(2) Wash and Dry Chicken.

(3) Place flour in a flat plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat chicken in seasoned flour. Make sure you cover every part of the chicken in the flour. The flour will help with the browning of the chicken. It will also help thicken the sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Cut the bacon into lardons. In a frying pan, render the bacon on low heat until it it crispy. Take bacon out and set aside.

(5) In the bacon fat in the pot, brown the chicken on both sides. Increase the heat to high. Shake excess flour off chicken before browning. If you do not have enough oil in the pan, add some olive oil before browning. Always start with the skin side down when browning chicken. Brown the chicken in batches if you need to in order not to overcrowd the pot. Each side takes about 4 minutes to brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(6) While chicken is browning, peel pearl onions. his is easier done by soaking pearl onions in hot water for about 1 minute before peeling. If using regular onion, peel and chop onion. Also quarter the mushrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(7) In a heavy bottomed pot lie a dutch oven, heat the olive oil until hot. Next saute the pearl onions  and bay leaf for a couple of minutes. Add the quartered mushrooms and some salt and saute for another 3 minutes. The mushrooms will soak up the oil, do not be tempted to add more oil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: A different (or clean) pot is used for the main dish. Due to the fact that the chicken was browned with flour, there will be a lot of burnt flour at the base of the frying pan. If this oil is used, it will make the dish bitter.

(8) Next, add the red wine, chicken broth, thyme and grated garlic to the pot, season with salt and pepper if needed and bring to a boil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: This dish is all about the red wine. The red wine cannot be left out of this dish or substituted with anything else. Be careful when adding salt to this dish. Remember the browned chicken has been salted, salt was added to the mushrooms when sauteing, the bacon is salty and red wine brings out the saltiness in dishes.

(9) Add the chicken to the pot, cover and cook in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

(10) While the chicken is in the oven, peel and cut the carrots diagonally. Place water on fire, bring to a boil, salt and boil carrots in water for 2 minutes. Drain water and set aside.

(11) After 45 minutes, take chicken out of oven. Use a tong to remove chicken. Remove the other contents of the pot with a slotted spoon. Discard herbs. Boil remaining liquid on stove for 10 minutes to make a reduction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(12) Return chicken to pot along with boiled carrots, mushrooms, bacon and pearl onions. Stir and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This dish can be served with white rice, boiled potatoes, herb potatoes (Recipe soon), couscous or pasta.

Love chicken and looking for more way to cook it? Check out other chicken recipes here.

If you love Coq au Vin, you will also love Boeuf Bourguignon