Coq au vin recipe
CBC News | Posted: December 19, 2020 10:00 AM | Last Updated: December 19, 2020
From Pure Kitchen Catering in Charlottetown
Coq au vin is chicken braised in red wine.
Chef John Pritchard at Pure Kitchen Catering serves it with pearl onions, mushrooms and lardons (little bits of pork belly or bacon).
In this dish the chicken — whole chicken cut up or just leg parts if you like — is first marinated in the wine with chopped onions, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and coarse pepper.
The following day, remove the chicken part (reserving the wine for the braise), pat them dry, season with salt and pepper and sear them in an oven-proof saute pan on medium-high. Once all chicken has been browned, creating that lovely roasted poultry aroma, set it aside and well move onto the lardons, onions and mushrooms.
Start with the lardons. Once browned and rendered a bit, remove them and add your mushrooms and or onions and put some colour on them — add a touch of flour toward the end of cooking those items. Can you smell this? Chicken, bacon, onions, mushrooms all browning, that's the magic. Your home has been infused with the heady aromas of a Burgundy Christmas!
Now it's time to combine all those 'umami bombs' back in that oven-proof pan/casserole dish. Start with the wine and scrape up all the brown bits — that's the lovely roasted flavour.
Add enough stock to just barely come to the top of the chicken. Toss in a few bay leaves and a sprig of fresh thyme and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in a 350F oven for 45 minutes. Remove and check to make sure it is tender enough but not too soft.
The sauce at this time is not thick. It tastes amazing. If you want it thicker, remove everything and place on a platter and keep warm. Bring the sauce (braising liquid) to a boil stove top and reduce the volume by one-third, and whisk in some butter, maybe two to three tablespoons. Then recombine all ingredients and keep warm.
Serve with 'obscenely buttered' mashed potatoes and any other vegetable side you like. Carrots are a great choice, simply buttered with a little sea salt and parsley.
These quantities are ideal for four people, or two with leftovers.
Pro Tip: is even better the next day
Ingredients:
Chicken - whole cut up or just legs (drums and thighs fit nicely in a pan as opposed to whole legs..for this recipe we'll call for 3.5 lbs)
- 12 oz. button mushrooms, halved or quartered
- 12 oz. pearl onions peeled (can also find frozen peeled, or shallots or red onion will work, chopped in ½-¾ inch pieces)
- 6 oz. thick-cut bacon or pork belly cut into ¼" x ¼" x 1" pieces (lardons)
- 1 large sprig of fresh thyme
- bay leaves
- 12 oz. good chicken stock (dark if possible)
- reserved wine from marinade
- butter for the sauce
Ingredients for marinade:
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- Salt and pepper
- 1 bottle good pinot noir
Potatoes
- 1.5 lbs russet s or other good floury potato
- salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated
- 1/2 lb butter cut into cubes, keep chilled
- pepper
- pinch of nutmeg
- *luxury option — good white truffle oil 1 tsp
Cook potatoes whole and peeled in well-salted water until tender — don't cook until breaking down.
Drain, mash, keep mashing, keep going. Add cream and stir or whisk until smooth. Start stirring in the butter until the blend is super silk. Check for seasoning
Carrots:
Cut 1.5 lbs carrots in coins, place in saute pan with 1 cup of water or better, use chicken stock.
- 1/4lb butter
- bay leaf
- herb sprig of your choice
- 2T chopped onion
- 2 T maple syrup
- Salt and pepper
- Chopped parsley for garnish
Cook very gently in a covered saute pan, stove top, until just tender
Spoon mashed potatoes into a large pasta bowl or plate.
Top with coq au vin and spoon the sauce over top. Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve carrots on the side.