Coq au Vin

Today I'm blogging from a new location, with a much appreciated gas stove. I'm also continuing the recent trend of "Francophilia" on Sans Déjeuner Gratuit. I have no idea if that was correct French. Coq au vin is a traditional, rustic, and hearty French dish, which, like many French dishes, lends itself to a multitude of regional and personal variations. Traditionally, the dish is made with an old rooster ("coq"), which necessitates a long baking time. With a regular chicken from the grocery store, we don't need to do that. I only baked mine for 30 minutes.

The wine used is generally a red Burgundy, but any good quality French red wine will do. Other variations exist, such as the Alsatian coq au Riesling, one of the many German cultural influences felt in the region. Whatever you choose, I must remind: only cook with a wine you would drink. I consulted, by way of their recipes, many eminent chefs for inspiration, including Julia Child and Alton Brown. In my version, I have attempted to reduce the number of steps, and I've chosen to throw basically all the ingredients in at once before baking the dish.

Ingredients

• 5 strips thick side pork, bacon, or lardons
• 1 whole chicken
• 4 cups button mushrooms (or chopped up larger mushrooms)
• 2-3 carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/2 onion
• 1 jar pearl onions, drained (about 25 pearl onions)
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups red wine (preferably Burgundian)
• 1 bay leaf
• A few sprigs fresh thyme
• A few sprigs Fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tbs flour
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil, as needed

Instructions

Cut the bacon or side pork (henceforth referred to as the "pork") into small pieces, about 2/3 inch wide. Cook in a large frying or saute pan until slightly crisped and plenty of fat is rendered into the pan. Remove the pork from the pan, shaking the excess grease back into the pan. Set aside in fridge.

While the pork is cooking, break down the chicken into pieces: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, breast cut into 4 pieces, and back cut into 2 pieces. Keep the skin and bones intact. Clean the offal out of the back. Liberally dust with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown all feasible sides of the chicken pieces in the pork fat and transfer to a large pot or dutch oven. 

Next, thoroughly brown the mushrooms. I did this in two batches. Transfer the mushrooms to the pot with the chicken. While browning the second batch of mushrooms, the pork fat dried up. If this happens, supplement with a little olive oil.

Finely dice the carrots, celery, and onion. Add these, along with the pearl onions and garlic, to the pan. Brown everything. Deglaze the pan with brandy and add to the pot. You can also wait and add the pearl onions at the end, which will preserve their structural integrity.

How many mirepoix photos on one blog is enough?

Add pork, chicken stock, wine, bay leaf, and thyme to the pot. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Before baking

Take the pot out and put it on the stove. Turn up heat to high and bring to a boil. Take the chicken pieces out and set aside to avoid overcooking. Reduce for several minutes, by about half, until the flavors intensify. Add the parsley while doing so. Stir the flour in with a little water to form a slurry. Add to the pot and stir to integrate and thicken the sauce. Taste as you go. At the end, salt and pepper to taste. Mine didn't need any extra salt, but a little pepper gave it a boost.

Notice difference in color and "water level"

Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs when done. Add the chicken pieces back in and simmer a few minutes. Serve with potatoes (mashed or boiled) or noodles and french bread.