Coq Au Vin. I last made Coq Au Vin seven years ago! I couldn’t actually believe it had been that long when I decided I was going to make it for Sunday night dinner and now that I’ve made it again let’s hope I don’t wait another seven as it’s pretty delicious!
I can understand why as when I first looked at the ingredients I needed and how long it would take, the recipe can look complicated and time consuming, but actually it isn’t too complicated to make at all and I found I had most of the ingredients in the cupboards already so that was a plus!
I was all set to make a Greek lamb meatball dish when I saw James Martin making Coq Aun Vin and decided yep I would give that a go instead. It’s the perfect option for a Sunday dinner and even better as you need to pour a fair bit of a bottle of red wine into the dish so can feast on a glass yourself during the cooking process – and open up another bottle for good measure!
The dish is rich in flavour, tastes delicious with some mash potato or some lovely crusty bread dipped in and some roasted vegetables. I added the mushrooms in and let them cook for the duration of the cooking however some recipes suggest adding the mushrooms at the end just before serving. There’s also different variations on whether to add cognac, I like to add it but it’s entirely up to you. It’s also a dish that tastes just as good if not better the next day so if you find you can manage to have some leftover it’s definitely a meal to look forward to and have all over again.
Coq Au Vin
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 20 mins
Total time: 1 hour 50 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
3 rashers (100g) dry-cured, smoked back bacon, fat trimmed, chopped
10 small shallots, peeled
8 free-range chicken thighs with bone and skin (1kg), skin removed
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp brandy or Cognac
600ml red wine
150ml chicken stock
2 tsp tomato puree
3 thyme sprigs, 2 rosemary sprigs and 2 bay leaves
small handful chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved if large
For the thickener
2tbsp plain flour
1tsp olive oil
1tsp softened butter
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan or deep frying pan. Add the bacon and fry until crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Add the shallots to the pan and fry, stirring or shaking the pan often, for 5-8 mins until well browned all over. Remove and set aside with the bacon.
- Pat the chicken pieces dry with kitchen paper. Pour the remaining oil into the pan, then fry half the chicken pieces, turning regularly, for 5-8 mins until well browned. Remove, then repeat with the remaining chicken. Remove and set aside.
- Scatter in the garlic and fry briefly, then, with the heat medium-high, pour in the brandy or Cognac, and stir together. The alcohol should sizzle and start to evaporate so there is not much left.
- Return the chicken to the pan along with any juices, then pour in a little of the wine, stirring the bottom of the pan again. Stir in the rest of the wine, the stock and tomato purée, drop in your sprigs of rosemary and thyme add the bay leaves, season with pepper and a pinch of salt, then return the bacon and shallots and add the mushrooms to the pan. Cover, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 50 mins-1hr.
- Lift the chicken, shallots, mushrooms and bacon from the pan and transfer to a warmed serving dish. Remove sprigs or thyme and rosemary and the bay leaves.
- To make the thickener, mix the flour, olive oil and butter in a small bowl using the back of a teaspoon. Bring the wine mixture to a gentle boil, then gradually drop in small pieces of the thickener, whisking each piece in using a wire whisk. Simmer for 1-2 mins. Pour over the wine sauce and serve with your choice of side dish.
