Coq Au Vin
Course: DinnerCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes1
hour15
minutesI love this recipe. This is such a tasty recipe and I do follow this recipe except I make part of it ahead and then finish it later. It is a go to for a cold evening with friends that come round for dinner. I love the use of the brandy and I make this to the point when you add the chicken back to the pot and allow to simmer for 50 minutes. At this point, I allow it to cool for 30 minutes and then cover and refrigerate either for a few hours or overnight. I then gently reheat on the stove, covered and continue with the rest of the recipe. It is so good served either with steamed potatoes or even better polenta and lots of parsley for garnish and a sprinkle of Maldon.
Ingredients
6 slices thick apple smoked bacon, cut into small bite size pieces
1/4 cup flour
Salt and fresh ground pepper
3 chicken breasts, bone in and skin on
3 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
3 chicken drumsticks
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup brandy
2 cups full bodied red wine
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb mixed button and cremini mushrooms
10 oz frozen pearl onions
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Cooked polenta, risotto, or steamed potatoes
Directions
- In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 4-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a paper toweled lined plates. Set aside. Drain off, all but 2 Tablespoons of the fat.
- Place the flour, several pinches of salt, and fresh ground pepper in a large zip lock bag and dredge the chicken pieces. Try and evenly coat all the pieces.
- In the Dutch oven, add 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken in batches and brown the batches and place the chicken on a plate and set aside.
- Return the chicken to the pot and remove pot away from heat and turn off vent. Pour brandy over chicken, return to medium low heat and cook to warm the brandy for 30 seconds. Remove pot from the heat and with a long match heat the brandy. When the alcohol has burned off, the flames go out. Keep the lid handy in case you need to put the flames out. When flames go out, stir in the wine, tomato paste, and garlic and bring to a simmer. Place lid on and simmer over medium low heat to cook the chicken. Turn the chicken over, half way through. Cook until chicken is opaque, about 50 minutes. This is a good stopping point. Allow to cool for 45 minutes after then refrigerate. When ready to reheat, reheat on stove gently.
- While simmering or reheating, in a frying pan over medium heat, heat 1 remaining Tablespoon of the oil. Add the mushrooms and saute until slightly softened about 5 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until glazed about 2-3 minutes longer. Season well with salt and pepper.
- The the chicken is cooked and the sauce slightly thickened, add the onions and mushrooms as well as the crisp bacon. Sprinkle parsley and mix everything around. Taste and SEASON with malden salt and fresh ground pepper.
- Serve on heated plates over polenta and garnish with more maldon salt and parsley.
