Coq au vin

Coq au vin is a French dish which literally means rooster with wine. To make it more precise, the dish was first created using a young rooster as the main meat. However, it’s hard to find the meat in some groceries stores, which is why chicken meat is often used as substitute.

The dish gained popularity especially in the United States when Julia Child, an American chef recognize for bringing French cuisine to the American public, included the dish in her cookbook called Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This exposure helped to increase the visibility and popularity of the dish in the United States, and coq au vin was seen as one of Child’s signature dishes.

Coq au vin – recipe

Traditionally, the dish is made up of stewed chicken, with bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions. Though the recipe that you can get in here didn’t deviate far from how the dished is cooked normally, however I did made sure that I add my own signature for this recipe.

You need it for 4 people

• 1 chicken – approx. 1 and a half kilo
• 100 g bacon
• 15 g butter
• 15 pearl onion
• 175 g mushrooms
• 1½ tbsp. wheat flour
• 3½ dl red wine – like one from Burgundy
• 2 dl chicken stock
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 small handful of fresh thyme – possibly If you do not like the stems, you can utilized the leaves
• 2 dl broad-leaved parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 15 g of cold butter
• Salt and pepper
• Brown beans

How to make coq au vin

1. Clean the chicken, rinse it out and inside, and wipe it dry with a kitchen roll or paper towels.
2. Cut it in 6-8 pieces.
3. Flour the chicken. Do not be scared to put salt and pepper on the flour. This step is to ensure that the chicken has crispiness in it and will result to a nice brown chicken when cooked.
4. Cut the bacon into pieces and place them in a large frying pan for a couple of minutes after which you pick them up.
5. Add olive oil on the pan (where you brown your bacon) and brown the chicken nicely on all sides.
6. While browning the chicken, on a pot, bring the butter to melt, sauté pearl onions and garlic, add the brown beans, mushroom, thyme, and seasoned it with a little salt and pepper. After a couple of minutes, add the bacon and red wine. Bring all the mixture to boiling.
7. When the chicken is nicely browned, add it into the pot. Also, add the chicken stock into it. Cook for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is totally submerged into the sauce.
8. You can served the dish already or for a better visual, sprinkle a little of parsley into it and serve.

Coq au wine tastes good with boiled rice. Such a dish deserves a good wine. Serve it with a light red wine or use the same red wine that you have used in the dish.Who said dessert? Raspberry mousse is good and delicious.

Bon appetite!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes