I took accelerated French classes when I was in college. Up to that point, everything I knew about French could be summed up in three words: Pepé Le Pew. But I thought I might be able to remember enough to pass if my quizzes were every other day instead of once a week. What I didn’t count on was the professor stopping by our desks every day to ask us what we’d done the day before. IN FRENCH. And we were supposed to answer. IN FRENCH. En français.
Every day, I’d give her the same answer: “J’ai joué” (“I played”). And she had mercy on my non-French speaking soul and moved on to the next person, whose eyes are probably permanently rolled to this day. This went on until the day she started teaching the French words for foods. And I could REMEMBER them! Soon, I could tell her that I’d played with gateau, fromage and le dessert. Practically fluent.
So, I was very excited when Ina Garten’s Coq Au Vin was chosen as one of this month’s Barefoot Bloggers recipes, because it gave me the chance to show off my mad French skills. Until Jeff started repeating my pronunciation of Coq Au Vin. That’s when I finally realized what my professor knew years ago – that my “French” accent sounds more like Justin Wilson than Catherine Deneuve. Aiyeeee! Bless her heart.
Literally “chicken in wine,” Coq Au Vin is a classic French dish featuring chicken pieces cooked in red wine with pork, mushrooms, onions, garlic, brandy and fresh thyme. Think beef Bourguignon with chicken. Tender chicken that falls off the bone, plenty of aromats (like onions, carrots, garlic and thyme) and a rich red wine sauce. It’s a little carb-deficient, but you can easily remedy that the way we did: by ladling the Coq Au Vin over garlic mashed potatoes. Laissez les bons temps rouler.
Coq Au Vin
Adapted from Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”
Serves 3
- 2 tablespoons good olive oil
- 4 ounces good bacon or pancetta, diced
- 1 (3 to 4-pound) chicken, cut in 8ths
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup Cognac or good brandy
- 1/2 bottle (375 ml) good dry red wine such as Burgundy
- 1 cup good chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 10 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
- 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 pound frozen small whole onions
- 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced
- 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 the mixture 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.
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This looks wonderful – I love your photo! It makes me want to make the dish tonight!
A perfect dish for a cold rainy day! I’m headed to the grocery store for the ingredients to make this tonight. Looks fab!
I served mine with rice, but I bet the mashed potatoes were tons better.
I was a french major in college and probably cannot remember 75% of what I learned. This looks yummy!
Looks great! I didn’t have time to make mine yet!
yours looks amazing. i didn’t serve mine with anything on the side, i bet mashed potatoes would have worked out well.
Yum! Looks delish!
I speed up my coq au vin by using chopped skinless boneless chicken thighs. My family likes it and I don’t have to deal with bones and stuff.
I wish I thought to serve mine with mashed potatoes. Mine wasn’t all that great – I’m wondering if it’s because I used a $10 bottle of wine and the cheapest brandy they had at the package store? Maybe I got out what I put in. Anyway, yours looks fabulous, and I’m glad that it gave you a chance to dust off all that French!
Wow, that looks fabulous! We had ours with mashed potatoes too. I can imagine your non-accent and I would totally tell you what I did to my poor husband… but I can’t through comments. *wink
Oh, I wish I would have made this! I’m bailing on BB this month because my life is just too hectic, but this looks delicious. I’m sure my husband would have loved it. I’ll have to make it next month.
I thought about mashed potatoes too, but went with wild rice. Yours looks delicious!
Oh yeah. Mashed potatoes. It was a great combination, three times. I will definitely make this one again.
I haven’t made mine yet, but you make it sound so easy and delicious. Sigh – I’d better get crack’a’lackin!
magnifique! looks so good! the only thing mine was missing was the mashed potatoes. i though of making them, but laziness prevailed.
Au Francais- En Français.
:)
Santa had better leave “Back to Basics” under my tree. I’ve been fighting the urge to buy it. Thanks for the inspiring post to try this recipe out.
Oh yes, you were brave and used the red wine….looks great though! :)
Wow, that looks really great! I had a bad experience with Coq Au Vin a few years ago. My hubby watched Alton Brown make it on his show and he wanted to try it. Sure, why not? Well 50 bucks and 4 hours later, it was, well, crappy. I swore we would never do it again. But, I think maybe you’ve changed my mind. Hmmmm……
Your coq au vin looks tres good. ;) I’ve lost most of my high school French except for some food words. Great post!
This stuff is amazing, I’ve wanted to make it for years and just never got around to it til now! My husband said “wow, I’d pay good money for this!”. Nice. Definitely will make it again.
Most if not ALL of Ina's recipes come out great! If you follow her instructions correctly and make sure you adjust oven temp and time(as all ovens vary)…you will for sure impress your guests and/or family! Your Coq au vin looks delicious, i've made Juila Child's and honestly, its not worth the fuss…I just have one question, when recipe's say "good" wine, how mush is the approx. amount one should spend on the wine? (and please don't say, something you would drink…because its sorta impossible to try a wine before buying it lol)