Coq Au Vin

Hello out there. 

I think today we should talk about foods that you probably cook everyday, and maybe add some twists to them or perhaps answer questions that you didn't even know you had. 

Chicken. The most versatile protein.  

First learning how to fabricate (or break down) a chicken is vital and will serve you well. I find it cost effective and a better yield if I buy a whole chicken and fabricate it myself. Watch this fantastic video on breaking down a chicken and just try it. Trust me.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEJSHRSJCn8

Feel better? Great, now let's cook it. We are going to make Coq Au Vin, chicken in red wine with onions, mushrooms and bacon. A classic French chicken dish.

What you will need:
Serves 4 to 6 people

4 to 6 oz bacon 

2Tbs butter

2.5  to 3 pounds cut up frying chicken (this means all those pieces you fabricated yourself, the drum, thigh and breast)

salt and pepper

1/4 cup cognac

3 cups full bodied red wine (Burgundy, cotes du rhone or even a chianti) 

1 to 2 cups chicken or beef or chicken broth (remember we made this a few blogs ago - it's starting to build on each other!)

1/2 Tbs tomato paste

2 garlic cloves smashed (turn your knife sideways and literally smash the garlic, it releases the juices without having to chop it)

1/4 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

First start by cutting your bacon into lardons. To make it easier, throw your bacon in the freezer for a few minutes. A lardon is basically thin strips of bacon, usually 1/4 inches across and 1 inch in length.  

Get your casserole pan (or stock pot) hot, then add your bacon (if you used lean bacon you may find you need to add some butter).

** Here is a tip for cooking bacon: you want a hot pan before you add the bacon, then turn your heat down low. You might see recipes that say render the bacon, basically meaning we want to extract all the fat out so we are left with crispy bacon (Don't get impatient and try to turn the heat up; trust me just let it roll).

Remove the bacon and set aside. You may notice little bits of bacon on the bottom, don't worry that is flavor we want, you only need about 2 to 3 TBS fat in your pan and medium heat.

Dry your chicken really well (water and grease are enemies and if your chicken is wet it won't get crispy) Salt and pepper really well.

Brown the chicken in your prepared pan.

Return the bacon. Cook together about 10 minutes turning the chicken only once to give it a good sear.

Pour the cognac in, you need to light the cognac with a flame. Shake the pan back and forth till the flame goes out. 

Add the wine. Then add just enough stock to cover the chicken, add the tomato paste being sure to stir it and dissolve it, add the smashed garlic and thyme and bay leaf. 

Cover and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear when cut. (Braising, like we discussed earlier - yay, don't you love seeing it all come together!) .

Remove the chicken. 

Simmer your sauce, skimming off the fat. Then turn up heat to a rolling boil and reduce to about 2.5 to 3 cups of liquid. Remove bay leaf. 

Ok, now, this is huge and you will use this (and you'll hear me refer to a roux a lot). 

What you need to make a roux:
3 Tbs flour
2 Tbs butter

Melt the butter in a saucepan and then whisk in the flour to  make a paste (Tada - you just made a roux! It can be used to thicken just about anything).

Whisk our roux into the reduced sauce, keep the pan with your sauce on the heat while you whisk in your roux.

**The sauce should at this point coat the back of a spoon, if you run your finger through it, it will keep the line and not run together.
Wallah you now have a sauce!

I'm going to pair my Coq Au Vin with mashed potatoes, cipollini onions and asparagus.

Boil your potatoes in SALTED water. 

** You want to start your potatoes in cold water 

Have you ever made mashed potatoes and them have that gluey texture? Well here are few reasons why that might happen, i have noticed that if you let your potatoes cool before whipping they get gluey. Also how you whip them, by hand is the absolute best (it incorporates air into the potatoes), or a ricer, which i find just as good.

Potatoes can be categorized in two ways, "waxy" and "mealy". Mealy potatoes (russets) have a higher concentration of starch, so they tend to be more dense. We boil then in cold water first because when they are cooked the cells swell and separate from one another, which creates that fluffy texture in mash and baked potatoes. 
Interesting fact, the French use Waxy potatoes for their mash, and they beat them first alone then with butter by hand until they pull from sides. I find that over-beating can also cause gluiness, so I suggest to new cooks to do it the "american" way or through a ricer.

For your cippolini onions, get a pan smoking hot and add some butter and oil, then add your onions with some fresh herbs and salt pepper. After you have seared, then toss them in a hot oven (375 degrees) and cook for about 10 minutes until tender, tossing occasionally. 

Ill discuss Asparagus later when I talk about some great spring side dishes. So come back!

Happy Cooking. 

** Typically means a tip or pay close attention. 


Youtube. (2009, February 21). Gordon Ramsey:How to part a chicken. [video file] retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEJSHRSJCn8

McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking the Science and Lore of the KItchen: New York, NY: Scribner, 2004.