Coq Au Vin

 Makes 6 servings.
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 slices thick-cut smoked bacon, chopped  (this part was yummy, more next time)
  • 18 pearl onions
  • 8 oz button mushrooms
  • olive oil for frying (optional)
  • 6 chicken legs (ie, 6 leg+thigh pairs.  We used 14 single legs for a double recipe but 6 leg+thigh pairs seems good.)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, diced (we used 3/2 carrots, but they were small)
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed (more is better!)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups red Burgundy wine (too much for merrrrr, try half wine, half broth next time)
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock
  • Boquet garni (we skipped this)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper (we used 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper for two recipes!  maybe next do half the pepper)
  • Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (we also skipped this)
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch and extra chicken broth (to wet the cornstarch)
    • Melt butter in a heavy Dutch oven, add bacon and cook until crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Add pearl onions to pan to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add mushrooms to pan, adding oil if necessary, and cook until lightly browned.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add chicken to pan to cook over medium to high heat until browned all over.  Remove and drain on paper towels.

    Add chopped onion and carrot to pan and cook until lightly browned, adding garlic towards end of cooking.  Add flour and cook, stirring, 2 minutes.  Stir in wine and stock and bring to a boil.  Return all ingredients to pan, add boquet garni, salt and pepper, cover and cook over very low heat 50 to 60 minutes.  Remove chicken and vegetables, discard boquet garni and boil sauce to thicken.  (We dumped the whole thing through a mesh strainer.  Mixed cornstarch with the extra chicken broth, and added that to the boiling sauce to thicken.  Much faster. :-)  Return chicken and vegetables to pan. Garnish with parsley and serve.

    (Since we used the cornstarch method for thickening the sauce, we had a lot of sauce.  That was a good thing because it went well with the rice.)

    Recipe from The Complete Step-By-Step Cookbook published by Salamander Books Limited
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