Coq au Vin


Coq Au Vin is one of those amazingly easy and cheap dinners that are perfect for the winter. It is so rich, hearty and warming from the inside out. It is a great way to use up red wine that has sat open a little too long (that should never be a problem, but it does happen sometimes).

My husband and I never by pieces of chicken. We only ever buy whole chickens because they are so much cheaper and then I break them down into their respective parts. This is the perfect kind of dish for that.

I used to make coq au vin and it would always turn out this weird purple color. I've discovered that you can get a rich brown if you make sure to brown it in a pot that is NOT nonstick so you can get all the brown stuff. It also helps if you use tomato paste to thicken the sauce because that will help with the color also

I sort have a recipe, but not really. I just throw things in a pot and see what happens (in terms of the amount of liquid). Edit this recipe as necessary.

 Coq au Vin
Ingredients
  • 1 onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 3 ribs celery
  • 1 cup quartered mushrooms
  • 1 chicken, cut into either quarters or 8 way.
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • thyme sprig and bay leaves
  • half a bottle red wine....maybe a little more
  • 1 large tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 cups chicken stock (or so)
  • flour
  • salt and pepper
  • oil for browning chicken
Directions
  1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Coat with flour and brown on all sides in a dutch oven or wide bottom heavy pot on the stove.
  2. Remove chicken and add vegetables, scraping up the delicious brown stuff on the bottom. Add a big spoon of tomato paste, stirring to coat vegetables.
  3. Add wine (half bottle or a little more) and let reduce by half.
  4. Add chicken stock and put the chicken pieces back in the pot (they should not be submerged, but halfway covered in liquid)
  5. Cover pot and simmer gently until done (half hour?). Remove lid or cover loosely if you desire a more reduced sauce, though the flour and tomato paste should thicken it enough
Make sure to eat this with some crusty bread to soak up all that delicious sauce. Yum!

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