Culinary Travel: Coq au Vin Recipe

Coq au Vin is Chicken in Red Wine. Oh my it is so very tasty. It is a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic. A red Burgundy wine is typically used, though many regions of France make variants using local varietals

Ingredients

Olive oil
One 6- to 8-pound capon, cut into 8 to 10 pieces (You can use regular chicken if you can't find a capon, but I highly recommend searching one out.)
Kosher salt
All-purpose flour, for dusting
8 ounces slab bacon, cut into lardons
3 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 pound cremini or white button mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup brandy
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups hearty red wine
8 ounces small cipollini onions (If you can't find cipollini onions, pearl onions are a good substitute.)
4 to 6 cups chicken stock
3 bay leaves
1 bundle fresh thyme
12 ounces fingerling potatoes, cut in 1-inch slices
Fresh chives, finely chopped, for garnish

Directions

Watch how to make this recipe.

Coat a large 7-quart Dutch oven or rondeau with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Pat the capon dry and sprinkle generously with salt. Working in batches if necessary, coat the capon gently with flour and put immediately in the hot oil. Only flour the capon that you are working with in that batch-no premature flouring! Premature flouring will result in doughy, gritty, mealy capon rather than crispy. Brown on all sides, and then remove from the pan to paper towels. Remove any excess oil from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the bacon lardons to the pan with a tiny splash of new olive oil. Cook the bacon until it is brown and crispy. Add the celery and onions, season with salt and cook until the veggies are starting to soften, are very aromatic and have no color, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms give off their juices, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the brandy and cook until it has reduced down. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. The mixture will become very thick-that is good! Stir in the wine and bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over medium heat. Toss in the cipollini onions, skin and all! Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes and then strain. When the onions are cool enough to handle, remove the skin and discard, reserving the onions.

Return the legs and thighs of the capon to the pan, reserving the breasts. Stir in enough chicken stock until the chicken is three- quarters covered. Add the bay leaves and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Add the cipollini onions and the potatoes. Partially cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.

After the capon has simmered for 20 minutes, turn the legs and thighs over and add the breasts. Check the level of liquid and add more chicken stock if needed. Partially cover the pan and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Remove the capon from the pan and skim the sauce if necessary. If the sauce is on the thin side, reduce it down until it becomes a sauce-like consistency. Season. Transfer the capon to a serving platter, garnish with chopped chives and serve with lots of the sauce.

Chicken, bacon and mushrooms oh my!

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