Braising Part IV
Coq au Vin

Coq au Vin is probably one of the best known French provincial dishes.  It is easy to make and is a welcome, bone warming meal on a cold winter's eve.  It also gets better as it ages in the refrigerator, providing a quick, delicious lunch or dinner later.  It is traditionally made with red wine, but we like it best with white wine.

You can use a whole chicken cut up, or eight chicken breasts.  However, we like chicken thighs for braised dishes.  They hold up well when cooked for an extended period and are very flavorful.  Since we do not like the look or texture of braised chicken skin, we remove the skin before browning.

Ingredients for Coq au Vin
8 chicken thighs or other chicken pieces, or a chicken cut up
1/2 bottle of red or white wine (approximate amount)
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig or a couple pinches of dried thyme
   
4 oz. bacon
20 pearl onions (or one package of frozen pearl onions)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
12 to 16 oz. button mushrooms
2 to 4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup brandy
1 teaspoons tomato paste
   
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional - do not use winter parsley as it is strong tasting)

    
Day Before
Remove skin from chicken, if you so desire.  Place chicken in container you can put a lid on, then pour enough wine over chicken to cover.  Add bay leaf and thyme.  Grind some sea salt and pepper into marinade.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, if possible.

Next Day
Drain marinade off chicken and put marinade in a stew pot with at least  2 cups of chicken stock; begin heating to a simmer.

Cook bacon in microwave or sauté in pan until brown.  Let cool on paper towels to drain off fat, then dice.

If you have fresh onions, peel.  Wash mushrooms.

Heat a frying pan or sauté pan with a stainless steel cooking surface, and add some butter or olive oil.  Sauté onions until golden brown.  Add balsamic vinegar and cook for a minute or so (this is not authentic, but it adds flavor).  Remove to a bowl and reserve.  Add a little butter or olive oil if necessary, and sauté mushrooms until golden brown.  Remove to a bowl with onions and reserve.  Add a little butter or olive oil if necessary, and sauté chicken pieces until golden brown.  

Put chicken pieces, mushrooms, onions, bacon, and tomato paste into stew pot with marinade and stock.  Then deglaze frypan or sauté pan with brandy; i.e. add liquid and scrape and stir up all brown bits so they emulsify in the liquid.  Add deglazed liquid to stew pot.  Add more stock if necessary to cover chicken and vegetables.  Simmer for 45 minutes to one hour.

If you desire to thicken the broth, take out chicken and vegetables, mix 1.5 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 tablespoon of flour, and then whisk into broth.  Or make slurry with 1/4 cup water and 4 teaspoons cornstarch and whisk into broth.  Simmer, stirring for a couple of minutes until thickened.

Return chicken and vegetables to thickened stock and sprinkle with parsley.  Serve.