Coq au Vin

At our house, we do a lot of adapted recipes, even the most traditional ones. We substitute a little of this, add a little of that, combine these two ideas, or even entirely make stuff up. (See the entire tag on our blog – Twisted Traditions). But sometimes you just can’t do that. Coq au vin literally just means “cock {rooster ⇒ chicken} of wine,” which, if you were speaking French, you’d understand to mean chicken cooked in wine. So you’d think this would be wide open for interpretation. But hearing the phrase ‘coq au vin,’ doesn’t just make most people think vague thoughts of wine + chicken; it makes most minds immediately jump to this specific dish, Julia Child, and her famous cookbook. So for this, we went to the penultimate source: Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The recipe we’re sharing is 99% true to hers – with two differences. One, we skipped the cognac and lighting it on fire, solely because I didn’t feel like going out and buying some. We’ll definitely do it next time, because I really want to light cognac on fire. And two, instead of portioning the mushrooms like Julia instructs, I chopped them fairly finely, because I don’t really like the texture of mushrooms, although I do love their flavor.

Coq au Vin

(Recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking)

Ingredients: 

• Chicken
  • 3-4oz bacon, sliced into lardons
  • 2 + 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 1/2 – 3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken
  • Salt & pepper
  • 3 cups dry, full-bodied red wine
  • 1-2 cups beef stock
  • 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 tbsp flour
• Mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lb mushrooms
• Onions
  • 20-25 pearl onions, peeled
  • 1 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 1 1/2 tbsp oil
  • 1/2 cup beef stock
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 bay leaf

Instructions: 

1. Bring 2 quarts of water to a simmer and submerge the lardons of bacon. Simmer for 10 minutes.
2. In a large dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp butter until melted.
3. Once bacon has simmered, transfer it to the dutch oven. Saute for a few minutes over medium heat until lightly browned, then remove to the side.
4. Pat chicken pieces dry. Top with 1/2 tsp salt and a few turns of pepper. Brown each piece on all sides in the hot butter/bacon fat.
5. Return the bacon to the dutch oven and cook over low-medium for 10 minutes, flipping the chicken once.
6. Pour wine into the dutch oven. Scrape the bottom of the dish to remove any stuck brown bits.
7. Add additional stock until the chicken is just covered. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and herbs.
8. Cover and simmer for ~30 minutes.
9. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
10. For the onions: In a skillet, heat butter and oil together over medium heat. Once warm, add the onions. Saute for 10 minutes, rolling the onions around frequently. Pour in the stock and add herbs. Braise, covered, simmering lightly for ~40 minutes.
11. For the mushrooms: In a skillet, heat butter and oil together over medium heat. Once the butter has foamed and subsided, add the mushrooms. Saute for 6-8 minutes, shaking the pan frequently. Once lightly browned, remove to the side.
12. After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the dish.
13. Increase heat and boil the braising liquid until it has reduced to ~ 2 1/4 cups. [Julia’s very specific suggestion, not mine.] Discard the bay leaf and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Remove from heat.
14. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tbsp butter and flour. Once combined, whisk into the braising liquid.
15. Return liquid to a slow simmer. Return the chicken to the dish, along with the mushrooms and onions.
16. Simmer for just a few additional minutes, basting the chicken.
17. Julia would serve with potatoes, but you can do whatever you want 🙂