I had a very good coq au vin at Le Bistrot du Sommelier, and decided to experiment with cooking one myself. I was quite impressed with the result, which was not far off what I had in the restaurant.
For this recipe I used: - 1 chicken (it should be a roster, if you can find it, or alternatively a kampong chicken)
- A few shallots
- 4 slices of smoked streaky bacon
- 10 button mushrooms
- 2 small carrots
- A few peppercorns
- 200ml chicken stock
- 1/2 bottle of Burgundy wine or alternatively Pinot Noir
- Some parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 3 cloves of garlic, squashed
I started by marinating the chicken (cut into a few pieces), onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots in 1/2 bottle of Pinot Noir. The next day, I removed the chicken and vegetables from the marinade, which I set aside for later use.
I created a bouquet garni of parsley, bay leaves and thyme from my own garden.
I fried the chicken in butter until lightly golden, then I removed it from the pan and I fried the bacon, followed by the shallots, carrots and mushrooms.
I then added the chicken back into the pot, and topped it up with the wine marinade, together with 200ml of chicken stock, peppercorns and garlic, and the bouquet garni. I recommend adding some of the salt now, and make the final adjustment towards the end. I cooked it on slow heat for about 1:40 hours. Alternatively, if you have a claypot, you can cook it in the oven for the same amount of time. If you have some brandy, they recommend that before topping up the chicken with the marinade, you cover it with some brandy first, and set it on fire. I didn't have brandy to hand, so I had to skip this step.
I made a roux sauce by whisking in some flour into 25g of melted butter over medium heat.
Once cooked, I removed the chicken and vegetables and set them aside. I then filtered the sauce through a sieve, and gently simmered it with some of the roux in order to slightly thicken it. Finally I poured a gentle ladle of sauce over chicken and vegetables and enjoyed the rustic dish with plenty of fresh bread!
4 comments:
Coq au Vin, I like! Awesome recipe, by the way.
Thanks! It's my first attempt, so feedback from the experts is welcome. I looked at many recipes, starting from the Larousse, and this is a blend of what I have seen.
Looks delicious! I will have to try this some day also! By the way, I was wondering how fast do your herbs grow? I have been contemplating whether or not to grow my own herbs but I was not sure how long it takes to grow them to a usable size.
If you are in a hurry - don't grow herbs! It must be a long term investment, which takes months to start up and get going, and then you maintain in the long term. but like anything that requires patience and dedication, you will find it rewarding in the long term. The easiest way, if you want quick results, is to buy potted herbs from supermarkets and them pot them in larger vases with proper potting soil. That way, you will have an immediately visible result instead of starting from seeds. Alternatively, you can buy potted herbs from plant nurseries. I started with basil, got addicted to it, and I now have more than 15 different herbs!
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