Coq au Vin

Chicken marinated in wine overnight and braised in it, with the garnish cooked separately and added at the end.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken, chicken stock, lardons, which are pork.

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 1 large chicken, jointed into 8
• 1 bottle full-bodied red wine
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• a few thyme sprigs
• 10 black peppercorns

For the braise

• 150 g smoked lardons
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 50 g butter
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée
• 300 ml chicken stock
• salt and pepper

For the garnish

• 300 g button onions, peeled
• 300 g button mushrooms
• 30 g butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• chopped parsley

Method

1. THE GARNISH IS COOKED SEPARATELY AND ADDED AT THE END. Onions and mushrooms put in at the start of a two-hour braise disintegrate into the sauce and leave nothing to find; glazed and fried on their own and folded in for the last ten minutes, they stay whole and distinct. This is the step that most often gets collapsed into the pot and it is the difference between a dish with three textures and a brown stew.
2. THE MARINADE IS BOILED AND SKIMMED BEFORE IT GOES BACK IN. Raw wine that has sat on chicken overnight throws a grey scum when heated. Boiled on its own for five minutes and skimmed, it goes into the braise clean and the sauce stays glossy rather than muddy.
3. AND THE CHICKEN IS DRIED PROPERLY BEFORE BROWNING. It has been in liquid for twelve hours; patted dry it browns, wet it steams and goes grey, and the colour of the finished sauce comes largely from that browning.
4. Chicken, wine, onion, carrot, bay, thyme and peppercorns into a bowl. Covered, fridge, overnight.
5. The chicken lifted out and PATTED VERY DRY. The marinade strained, the vegetables kept, the liquid kept separately.
6. The marinade liquid brought to the boil in a pan, simmered 5 minutes, and skimmed of the grey foam.
7. Lardons fried in the oil in a heavy casserole until crisp, then lifted out.
8. Chicken browned in the same fat in two batches, skin side first, 5 minutes a side. Lifted out.
9. The marinade vegetables and garlic softened in the fat 8 minutes. Flour stirred in, 2 minutes. Tomato purée, 1 minute.
10. The skimmed wine and the stock poured in, whisked smooth, and brought to a simmer.
11. Chicken and lardons back in. Lid on, into a 150C oven for 1 hour 30 minutes.
12. Meanwhile the garnish: button onions in a pan with the butter, sugar and a splash of water, lid on, 15 minutes, then uncovered and rolled until glazed and golden. Lifted out, mushrooms fried hard in the same pan.
13. Garnish folded in for the last 10 minutes. The sauce reduced on the hob if it is thin. Parsley over, and it is better the next day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes