Coq au vin

coq au vin

Last Sunday we had friends over for lunch and for no reason in particular decided on coq au vin. Though, when you think about it, it’s a no brainer crowd-pleaser and ideal for entertaining as it is all prepared in advance. No doubt there are numerous variations on the theme but we tend to be old-fashioned and stick with the french classic. We did bend it slightly in that we didn’t have any Bourgogne wine which is normally used in a classic coq au vin so used a very good quality Bordeaux – you want a not too tannic, fruity wine. We served the same wine with the meal.

Of course, the original recipe was intended to use up that old bird past its usefulness for laying eggs but since they tend not to be on your average supermarket shelf we used thighs. You could cut up a whole chicken but we find that the breasts become overcooked and dry and thighs or drumsticks or combination of the two are a better choice.

You need to be organized to the extent of preparing the chicken the day before you want to cook it and marinading it in the wine for 24 hours. If pushed you could skip this but it does make a difference to the finished dish.

Plain boiled potatoes with a garnish of finely chopped parsley is probably the normal accompaniment but trying to stick to our low GI regime we made a gratin of celeriac which turned out to go superbly well with the coq.

for 4 – 6

• 2 chicken thighs or a thigh and drumstick per person
• bottle of good quality (no, cheap plonk won’t do) Bourgogne or fruity red wine
• 1 carrot, peeled, finely sliced
• small onion, finely diced
• stick celery, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 125g lardons or chopped streaky bacon
• chicken stock
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 250g shallots or button onions, peeled
• 250g button mushrooms
• finely chopped parsley

The day before; take the skin off the chicken pieces and place in a non-reactive bowl together with the wine, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Cover with cling wrap and put in the fridge for 24 hours.

Next day, remove the chicken from the marinade and dry with kitchen towel. Heat some oil in a deep casserole and when hot, brown the chicken pieces a few at a time and remove with a slotted spoon. Add the lardons to the casserole and cook for a few minutes to brown. Return the chicken to the pan and pour over the marinade and all the aromatics. Add chicken stock so that the chicken is just covered. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook gently until the chicken is very tender but not so that it is falling off the bone – about 40 minutes (unless you are using an old coq in which case it might take 2 hours). Remove the chicken, stir in the tomato puree and continue to cook the marinade until it is reduced to a thickish sauce. Alternatively, if you don’t have enough sauce to reduce it then thicken it with a little corn starch mixed with some cold water.

While the sauce is reducing heat a little oil in a roomy frying pan and when hot add the shallots or onions and cook on a high heat until browned and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and add the mushrooms and cook in the same way until browned and tender. Remove and add to the onion.

If you are eating straight away, add the chicken to the sauce and reheat thoroughly. When hot, add the onions and mushrooms and reheat for a few minutes. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

Alternatively, the cooking can be done in advance and then you assemble the dish by putting the chicken into a roomy, ovenproof serving dish, scatter over the onions and mushrooms. Use a slotted spoon to remove from the sauce all the vegetables and scatter over the chicken. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Finally, nap over enough sauce for the number of servings you need, cover with foil and set aside in a cool place until ready to eat. Reheat in a hot oven for about 30 – 40 minutes until piping hot. Scatter with finely chopped parsley and serve.

sweet potato and corn soup garnished with chorizo oil and coriander

We started the meal with a soup of sweet potato and corn garnished with a drizzle of chorizo oil and you can find the recipe HERE