COQ AU VIN Made Easy With Le Creuset!

COQ AU VIN

(Chicken in Red Wine with Onions, Mushrooms, and Bacon)

This dish will fill your home with the most wonderful aromas of great home cooking. The chicken will fall off the bone with the most velvety smooth amazing tasting sauce you have probably have not had in a while :)

It can be made with either red wine or white wine, but the red obviously is a better choice. Julia Child's wrote that in France it is served along side parsley potatoes, buttered peas or a green vegetable. Here I will serve over pasta.

She recommends serving with a full-bodied red Burgundy or Beaujolais.

First thing is first! You will need a great Dutch Oven, I recommend one by Le Creuset Heavy, top quality and I LOVE it! After seeing Julie & Julia I had to have one.

Julia's Ingredients (with mine in red):

• 3 to 4 oz chunk of lean bacon
• 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. cut up frying chicken
• 1/4 cup cognac (optional)
• 3 cups young full bodied red wine, Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti
• 1/2 Tb tomato paste
• 2 cups brown chicken stock, brown stock or beef bouillon
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 12 to 24 brown braised onions (1/2 one large Spanish onion diced)
• 1/2 lb. sauteed mushrooms (1/2 cup dried mixed mushrooms)
• Salt and pepper
• 3 Tb flour
• 4 Tb softened butter
• Sprigs of fresh parsley

Okay now to begin.

I cut the bacon into strips.

Add a dash of olive oil to your Le Creuset dutch oven and brown the bacon.

Remove the browned bacon to platter reserving fat in pan to retain flavor.

Brown seasoned chicken (salt and pepper) in the bacon drippings. Do this in batches if needed not to over crowd your pan, you want the chicken to brown not simmer.

Remove the browned chicken to serving platter.

While the chicken is browning prep your garlic, onions, mushrooms and herbs.

These are the dried mushrooms I added and keep on hand at all times. They will reconstitute in the sauce.

Here I added the chopped onions and browned. Stirring gently. You want the edges to just brown nicely, don't burn.

To the onions add the mashed/chopped garlic, thyme, bay leaves and dried mushrooms. Stir to get the flavors released. When you start to smell the garlic it's ready! Don't over cook the garlic you want to keep it sweet not bitter.

at this time add the cognac, it will sizzle and splatter! Keep your face back! Let the alcohol burn off about 2 minutes. Then I add the wine, let the alcohol burn off again.

Now add the chicken stock and tomato paste. Whisk together well.

Return the chicken and bacon into the pot. Bring to a boil reduce, cover and simmer slowly for 30 minutes.

After the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear when checking with a knife, remove to platter.

Take another sauce pan ad the butter and flour, cook stirring constantly until flour incorporates with the butter and you cook off the raw flour taste.

With a ladle start adding the sauce from the pot, whisking the sauce and flour together. When about 1/2 the sauce has been added pour it all back into the Le Creuset dutch oven and stir together. The sauce will thicken

Return the chicken to the sauce and heat through. Serve over parsley buttered pasta or potato's.

Serves 4

Enjoy!

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