Coq au Vin

This is one of my first meat dishes that I’ve ever cooked in red wine. It is a French rustic and hearty classic, by no means complicated to make. You have to remember  though to marinate the chicken first, preferably overnight, as it really helps to tenderise the meat as well as intensify the flavours.

In most recipes you’ll  find that the skin is left on the chicken. My preferred way however, is to use skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks.  Whilst cooking the skin tends to loose its crispiness gained during browning and for many may not look very appetising. 

Serves 4 :

– 5 chicken legs, cut into drumsticks and thighs (skin taken off)

– 500 ml of full-bodied red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon for example)

– 3-4  medium carrots (peeled and cut into chunks)

– 2 celery sticks, thickly sliced

– one onion, peeled and cut in half

– 4 garlic cloves, peeled

– 1 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme tied together with a few parsley stalks)

– a teaspoon of black peppercorns 

 

– 150-200 g of smoked bacon or pancetta, diced (rind removed)

– 400-500 g of all button mushrooms, washed and cut lengthwise in two or four  (if large)

– about 12 whole shallots, peeled 

 

– olive oil

– 1 tablespoon of flour for dusting

– salt 

– pepper

 

– freshly chopped parsley leaves for garnish

 

First step is to marinade the chicken.

Place the chicken pieces, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bouquet garni and peppercorns in a large bowl. Cover with the red wine, toss gently making sure that all the ingredients are evenly spread and covered with the wine. 

Cover with cling film and place in a fridge, leaving the chicken to marinade for about 24 hours.

The following day take the bowl out of the fridge.

Place a colander over a large bowl and into it put the chicken along with all the other marinade ingredients draining off the wine. It’s best to wait for about 30 minutes, making sure that all the excess liquid has been drained off. 

Separate the chicken and pat dry with kitchen paper. Reserve the liquid, the vegetables (you can discard the onion) and the bouquet garni.

Dust the chicken generously with the flour, season with salt and pepper.

On a medium to high heat, in a large heavy-based casserole dish heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken and colour it on each side for about 5-7 minutes. 

Transfer the chicken on a plate and set aside. 

Now add the drained vegetables into the casserole, lower the heat and fry for about 5 minutes or so. 

Add the chicken pieces back into the casserole along with the bouquet garni and cover everything with the reserved wine. Cover and cook on a low to medium heat  for a minimum of 50 minutes (or alternatively place the casserole into the preheated oven to 160-170 C) or until the meat turns tender. 

In the meantime heat up in a separate medium pan a little bit of olive oil. Add the chopped bacon and shallots. Fry everything until crisp and golden. Now add the prepared mushrooms, give everything a good stir and fry everything until the mushrooms gain some colour, for about 5 minutes or so.

Now transfer the bacon, shallots and mushrooms into the Coq au Vin.

Stir everything well, season with salt and pepper and carry on cooking until the meat is ready. 

If you would like to thicken up the sauce  a little, you can take the lid off towards the end of cooking the dish. The other solution is to pour into a cup some of the wine sauce and stir in, making sure there are no lumps, the remaining flour left over from dusting the chicken. Pour that mixture back into the casserole, stir and cook until the sauce has thickened. 

Taste again and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Serve Coq au Vin garnished with some chopped parsley accompanied by a potato mash and a crisp green salad.