Easy Coq au Vin
Originally published at Misangela.com. Please leave any comments there.
Classic Coq au Vin can be a bit of a pain with the day before prep and the straining and all that. Here is my simplified version for one pot cooking in about an hour and a half. I think it’s one of the best Coq Au Vin recipes I’ve made! Enjoy!
Angela's Easy Coq au Vin
* 1 small chicken cut up or 2 breasts, 2 thighs and 2 legs
* flour for dredging chicken
* 4 strips of bacon
* 2 T olive oil (more or less)
* 1 onion, frenched (How to French cut onions.)
* 2 med shallots sliced
* 6 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
* 15 (1 small carton) button mushrooms (I like Cremini)
* 24 pearl onions (about 1 cup, I use frozen, these are optional)
* 4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
* 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
* Salt & Pepper to taste
* .75 of a 750ml bottle red wine, approx 2.5cups (whatever you like to drink is fine)
* 1 cup chicken broth (more or less to taste)
* 2 Tbl tomato paste
* 21 Tbl brown sugar
* 3 sprigs of thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried
* 1 tsp herbes de provence
* 3 bay leaf
* 1/2 c Italian parsley, roughly chopped
Remove skin if you wish, rinse and pat dry the chicken. Make your flour dredge - don’t forget to season with salt and pepper.
Add olive oil to coat bottom of dutch oven and put heat on med. Fry up the bacon slowly to render the fat. Remove bacon, set aside and retain bacon fat. Snack on bacon. Dredge the chicken and brown in fat/oil mixture, skin side down to create a crispy skin. (YUM!) The chicken will not be cooked, just browned in about 15 mins. Monitor your heat and don’t burn it! Remove golden brown chicken and hold. (I suggest a pan with sides to catch the delicious juices!) Hold the dredge flour as well.
Over medium flame, cook carrots, onions, shallots, celery and shrooms until fragrant. Add garlic last so as not to scorch. The veg does not need to be cooked through - since this is a braise, they will cook with the chicken. Add in about 1 Tbl of the dredge flour, stir in and cook for a minute or so. This is to thicken your sauce. If the pan becomes too dry, add a splash of stock.
Turn up the heat to med high and add in the aromatics (thyme, herbs, bay leaves), tomato paste and brown sugar and sautée until tomato paste is broken down. Add wine and broth and scrape up the flavour bits from the bottom of the pan. You should have a thick sauce. Taste for seasoning. Place chicken skin side up (if you left the skin on and it’s crispy) and try not to immerse the skin so it will stay slightly crispy. Bring to boil then reduce to slow simmer and put the lid on the dutch oven. Let simmer covered for about 10 mins, then partially open the cover to allow steam to escape and the sauce to reduce. Check your seasoning. Cook for another 30-45 mins on low. If the sauce is too thin, you can make a cornstarch slurry with 1T cornstarch dissolved in chicken stock and add in. Or you can simply continue to cook uncovered to reduce the sauce. I’d try to reduce first, if that doesn’t work, then do the slurry and don’t forget to bring to a boil to cook it. If it’s too thick, add more stock.
Serve in a big bowl dressed with a dash of red wine vinegar and fresh parsley. Add crusty bread and red wine for a wonderful classic French meal.