Coq Au Vin Recipe Jacques Pepin

COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done. Set aside.
• Add the carrots, onions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.
• Mash 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium saute pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.

COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Season chicken with 2 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a large bowl, combine chicken, wine, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or, even better, overnight.
• In a large Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, cook lardons over medium-low heat until fat has rendered, and lardons are golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer lardons to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in pot.
• Remove chicken from wine, reserving the marinade. Pat chicken pieces with paper towels until very dry. Heat lardon fat over medium heat until it's just about to smoke. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken in a single layer and cook until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. (Add oil if the pot looks a little dry.) Transfer chicken to a plate as it browns.
• Add diced onion, carrot, half the mushrooms and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to pot. Cook until vegetables are lightly browned, about 8 minutes, stirring up any brown bits from the pot, and adjusting heat if necessary to prevent burning.
• Stir in garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then stir in flour and cook for another minute. Remove from heat, push vegetables to one side of pot, pour brandy into empty side, and ignite with a match. (If you're too nervous to ignite it, just cook brandy down for 1 minute.) Once the flame dies down, add reserved marinade, bring to a boil, and reduce halfway (to 1 1/2 cups), about 12 minutes. Skim off any large pockets of foam that form on the surface.
• Add chicken, any accumulated juices and half the cooked lardons to the pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, turning halfway through. Uncover pot and simmer for 15 minutes to thicken. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick or other large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pearl onions, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, shaking skillet often to move onions around. Uncover, push onions to one side of skillet, add remaining mushrooms, and raise heat to medium-high. Continue to cook until browned, stirring mushrooms frequently, and gently tossing onions occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove onions and mushrooms from skillet, and wipe it out.
• In same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until bubbling. Add bread and toast on all sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side. (Adjust heat if needed to prevent burning.) Remove from skillet and sprinkle with salt.
• To serve, dip croutons in wine sauce, then coat in parsley. Add pearl onions, mushrooms and remaining half of the cooked lardons to the pot. Baste with wine sauce, sprinkle with parsley and serve with croutons on top.

COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Place chicken in a large bowl, and add wine. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove chicken from wine, and pat dry; reserve wine. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
• Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat until crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate, leaving drippings in pot. (You should have 3 tablespoons; you may need to add oil.)
• Raise heat to medium-high. Working in batches, cook chicken, flipping once, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Add onion to pot, and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes. Add pearl onions and mushrooms, and cook until brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste, and cook 2 minutes. Add Cognac, and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• Return bacon and chicken to pot. Pour in reserved wine, and add chicken liver and herbs. Bring to a simmer. Cover, and place in oven until chicken has cooked through and vegetables are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Discard herbs, and skim fat from surface.

COQ AU VIN BY JULIA CHILD

Steps:

• If you are using lardons, saute several minutes in 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy bottomed casserole until lightly browned; remove lardons to a side dish and leave fat in pan; otherwise, film pan with 1/8 inch of oil.
• (My weird turkey bacon didn't give up a lot of fat, so I went with a little extra olive oil--).
• Heat fat or oil in pan to moderately hot, add chicken, not crowding pan; turn frequently to brown nicely on all sides (my skinless thighs didn't exactly"brown" as chicken with skin would have; if I had used white meat I would have left the skin on).
• Pour in the Cognac, shake pan a few seconds until bubbling hot, then ignite Cognac with a match.
• (What a rush!).
• Let flame a minute, swirling pan by its handle to burn off alcohol; extinguish with pan cover.
• Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper; add bay leaf and thyme.
• Place onions around the chicken.
• Cover and cook slowly 10 minutes, turning once.
• Uncover the pan; sprinkle on the flour turning chicken and onions so flour is absorbed; cook 3 to 4 minutes more, turning once or twice.
• Remove from heat, gradually stir and swirl in the wine and enough stock or bouillon to almost cover the chicken.
• Add the browned lardons, garlic, and tomato paste.
• Cover and simmer slowly 25 to 30 minutes, then test chicken, remove those pieces that are tender, and continue cooking the rest a few minutes longer.
• (I actually cooked it about 15 to 20 minutes longer so it would reduce and become more of a sauce.) Return all chicken to the pan, add mushrooms and simmer 4 to 5 minutes.
• Taste carefully, and correct seasoning.
• Sauce should be just thick enough to coat chicken and vegetables lightly.
• If too thin, boil down rapidly to concentrate; if too thick, thin out with spoonfuls of bouillon.

QUICK COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Cut wings from the chicken, cutting at the joints into 3 pieces. Cut the remaining chicken into 4 pieces, 2 breasts and 2 legs. Remove skin and bones from the breasts. Set breasts aside with the 4 meatier wing pieces.
• Pull of skin from the chicken legs and remove tips from the drumsticks. Cut down each side of the thigh bone and slide your knife under the bone to separate meat from it. Holding the thigh bone, cut all around the joint at the knee and pull out the bones. Add the legs to the breasts and wings.
• Combine pearl onions, water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sugar in a large saucepan; bring to a boil and cook until water is evaporated and onions begin to fry, 2 to 4 minutes. Continue cooking and stirring, shaking the pan occasionally, until onions are lightly browned and glazed on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cover.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add chicken wings and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the legs; cook and stir until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add breasts; cook and stir until browned, 2 minutes per side. Transfer chicken pieces to a plate.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place onion in the same skillet used for the chicken; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups red wine, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Return legs and wings to the skillet; cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add chicken breasts and simmer gently until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 6 minutes.
• Stir 2 tablespoons red wine and potato starch together in a bowl until dissolved; stir into chicken mixture until sauce is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add pearl onions and mushrooms with their juices; keep warm.
• Cut each slice of bread diagonally in half to form 2 triangles. Trim each triangle into a heart shape. Spread canola oil onto a baking sheet and press bread hearts into the oil so they are moistened on both sides.
• Bake in the preheated oven until croutons are browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Dip the tip of each crouton into the sauce; press into parsley until coated.
• Cut chicken breasts and legs in half. Serve 1 breast piece, 1 drumstick or thigh, and 1 wing per person with 2 croutons and spoonfuls of sauce and vegetables. Sprinkle remaining parsley over chicken.