Coq Au Vin - JC100

Recipe number three of the JC100 celebration honoring Julia Child is Coq Au Vin! A delicious chicken dish traditionally cooked in lardon with red wine, mushrooms, onions, garlic and brandy. The preparation is involved and is similar to beef bourguignon. Julia uses brandy and describes how you can wow your guests with a flame at the dinner table! I think I'll pass on potentially burning the house down and use the white wine I already have! The dish came out beautifully. Though time consuming, (like many of Julia's recipes) the chicken is tender from simmering for a long time and the wine adds a great deal of flavor. I used butter to sear the chicken instead of lardon. I am starting to train for a marathon so my dishes will be a little more on the healthier side as I proceed with future recipes!

Ingredients

21/2 - 3 ponds frying chicken parts - legs and thighs
3 Tablespoons butter
1 pint button mushrooms, sliced
1 onion sliced
Salt and pepper
1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 large ripe unpeeled tomato
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups white wine
1 or more cups chicken stock
Buerre manie for the sauce (11/2 tablespoons each flour and softened butter blended to a paste)
Fresh parsley or chive for decoration

Saute mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter for a few minutes once the butter froth has subsided. Season with salt and pepper. Saute and set aside. Saute onions in olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter until clear. set aside. Next, season chicken with salt and pepper and sear in the remaining butter. Add mushrooms, onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and tomato. Pour in the wine and enough stock barley to cover the ingredients. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer slowly for 20 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside to make the sauce. Boil down the sauce, add more seasoning to taste and add in buerre manie to make the sauce thickened. Bring the sauce to a simmer, remove from heat and add the chicken. This was another fun dish to make.

buerre manie

I made some roasted sweet potato and served with wine!

Bon Appetit!

Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.