Coq au Vin
This classic French dish has been a favorite around here for a long time. We’ve had our adventures in the kitchen testing Julia’s and then trying Ina’s version. We even took a cooking class making Coq au Vin at Sur la Table. After a lot of trials, we are happy to share Coq au Vin, our version.
The post comes on our 1st birthday of this blog. It’s been a fun year of cooking, learning and adventuring together. Thank you for stopping by!
There are not a lot of ingredients in this dish, but there are a lot of steps. This is good for when there is plenty of time to cook, enjoying the process.
Start with chopping the carrots, onions and celery. Set aside together in one prep bowl.
Next, chop the bacon. Use a fairly thick cut. Pancetta can also be substituted, using a thick cut.
After the chopping it’s time to start some cooking. Start with browning the bacon until somewhat crispy. Leave the fat in the Dutch oven as the bacon is removed and placed to the side.
Brown the Chicken
In the same Dutch oven, brown the chicken in the fat from the bacon. Be careful, it’s hot and if the chicken is not fully dry it may splatter out of the pan.
Cook slowly browning on all sides. Once brown, remove and set to the side.
After removing the chicken it’s time to sauté the vegetables.
Once the vegetable are soft turn the heat down and add the tomato paste
Now the fun part comes! Add the brandy and let it flame. This will burn off the excess alcohol and leave the flavor.
Add 2 tablespoons of flour
Fully incorporate the flour into the veggie and tomato paste mixture. Then it’s time to add the wine and chicken stock. This should make a nice amount of sauce before returning the chicken to the Dutch oven.
After adding the chicken, add the garlic bulb, with the head cut off but the bulb left intact. Add the herbs and some of the bacon. Cover and it’s ready for the oven.
While the chicken is in the oven, it’s time to make the onions and mushrooms. Buy good boiler onions, that are just a bit bigger than a pearl onion. Peel the outer skin off but leave enough so the onion stays intact. After melting the butter, add the onions and the wine. Cover and simmer. They should turn soft during the cooking but be sure to keep the heat low enough so the liquid does not fully evaporate.
Once cooked, remove from the heat and keep covered.
In a very similar process, cook the mushrooms. For the mushrooms use a cast iron skillet. This will help the mushrooms to brown in the butter a bit. Once they are browned, remove from the heat and set aside.
Now, it’s time to check on the chicken. Look at the richness of that sauce! This recipe is a lot of steps, but it is not particularly difficult to make.
Remove the garlic and herbs.
Return to the stove.
Remove the chicken while finishing the sauce. Start by adding the mushrooms.
Next add the onions. Pour the remaining juices of both the onions and mushrooms into the sauce.
It’s almost done!
Bring to a slight simmer. If desired, add a slurry of cornstarch and…..
Pour in slowly, continuously stirring. You should not need much more than a tablespoon or two of the slurry.
Final step! Return the chicken to the Dutch oven. Re-warm and give it a final stir.
Simple and Delicious
Place in a shallow dish and top with a few bacon crumbles.
On this night we had with mashed potatoes and simple buttered peas. This was a favorite way Julia Child served Coq au Vin.
Oh so good! We look forward to serving this version to friends and family when they join us!
Coq au Vin
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 oz thick cut bacon, diced into 1 inch pieces(or pancetta)
- 2 1/2 - 3 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large yellow onion, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 3 carrots, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 2 celery, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 of one Garlic head
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup brandy or cognac
- 2 tablespoons flour
- Whole bottle Syrah
- 1 cup + 4 tablespoons chicken stock
- 3 sprigs Thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons Corn starch
- 10-12 Boiler or pearl onions, outer peel removed
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 12-15 Mushrooms, stems removed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a Dutch oven heat olive oil. Add the bacon and cook the bacon until crispy. Removed the bacon and set aside.
- Dry the chicken thoroughly. Salt and pepper on all sides. Add to the Dutch oven and slowly brown. Once brown on all sides remove to dish and set side. Add the celery, carrot and onion. Add, a bit of Salt and pepper. Cook until tender.
- Next add the tomato paste. Stir to incorporated
- Add the brandy. Ignite and burn off until the flame is diminished and the liquid fully incorporated. Add the flour.
- Follow by adding the wine and the chicken stock. Stir and cook 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic bulb and the herbs. Add the cooked bacon. (Save a few pieces for garnish if desired) Cover and place in the pre-heated oven. Cook for 40-50 minutes until chicken is fork tender or reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Meanwhile make the onions. In a saucepan heat the wine and butter to a simmer. Add the onions. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed about 10minutes. Remove from heat. Keep covered until ready to use.
- While the chicken is in the oven make the mushrooms. Heat a cast iron skillet with the butter and olive oil. Once it is warm place the mushrooms in. Cook for 4-5 minutes moving around the skillet to keep from burning. Turn and cook for another 3-4 minutes. When they are soft and their juices have released, remove from the heat. Cover and keep warm.
- Remove Dutch oven from the oven. Next, remove the chicken from the Dutch oven placing in dish to the side and tent to keep warm. Turn the stove to medium with the sauce still in the Dutch oven. Reduce for about 10 minutes. Add the cooked onions and mushrooms to the Dutch oven. Stir well.
- In a sealable bowl mix 2 tablespoons of flour and 4 tablespoons chicken stock to make a slurry. Shake until well mixed. Pour 1 tablespoon of the slurry into the sauce, stirring to thicken slightly. Pour up to 1-2 tablespoons more depending how thick you prefer the sauce. It will continue to thicken so don't overdo.
- Return the chicken to the Dutch oven.
- Keep the Dutch oven over low heat until the chicken is warmed. Serve at once by placing in a shallow bowl. Top with bacon bits if desired. Enjoy!
