Coq au Vin is a traditional French dish of chicken slowly braised in wine. I love making Coq au Vin and have it for lunch or dinner over a period of two days. Just like most stews, the flavor gets better the day after and the next!
Prepare the red wine chicken marinade.
In a container, place 4 large pieces (or 8 small pieces) chicken, in 3 cups or 1/2 a bottle of Merlot or Pinot Noir.
Add 3 fresh thyme sprigs, 2 dried bay leaves, and 14 to 16 white pearl onions.
And marinate the chicken pieces 2 to 24 hours in the refrigerator, the longer the better.
When it is time to cook the chicken, remove the herbs
and pearl onion. Set aside.
Remove the chicken from the red wine marinade.
Spread the chicken on a tray.
Dry well with paper towels.
Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Reduce the red wine marinade.
Strain the red wine marinade into a saucepan to remove solid particles.
Heat the red wine marinade on medium high. Bring to boil.
Skim off any impurities that surface to the top.
Then keep on cooking the red wine marinade...
to reduced the red wine to half its original volume. Then set aside.
Brown the chicken and vegetables.
In a Dutch oven, heat up a tablespoon of cooking oil. Then fry the chicken to brown on both sides. Set aside.
In the same pot, fry the bacon.
When done, set it aside, along with the fried chicken.
Sauté the mushrooms. When done, set aside along with the chicken and bacon.
Next, sauté the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Prepare the sauce.
Then add butter to the pot. When the butter is melted, add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
Add tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add flour and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Slowly pour in the beef stock while stirring to totally dissolve the flour.
Add the reduced wine and mix until flour is dissolved and the sauce is smooth.
Add everything back.
Add back to the pot the chicken, bacon, mushrooms, thyme, bayleaf, add salt and pepper, then stir. Bring to a simmer.
Slow cook the Coq au Vin
Cover the Dutch oven and transfer it to the oven to slow cook for 45 minutes. In 45 minutes, the chicken will be very tender but not falling apart... just like a perfect COQ AU VIN should be!
All you have to do is remove the herbs (thyme and bay leaf) from the pot, and you are ready to serve the Coq au Vin.
Serve the Coq au Vin with mashed potatoes.
I want mine over the potatoes, like so!
And eat it... like so!
D E L I C I O U S !
😍#ilikeitalot!😍
All photos were taken by me with my iPhone.
#sublimesunday as inspired by @c0ff33a
and #beautifulsunday as initiated by @ace108.
Thank you for stopping by to view this article. I hope to see you again soon!
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