Culinary Disasters

Coq au vin is traditionally made with rooster.  I actually was able to find rooster but when I got it home I noticed it was labeled as stewing hen (remember always check the labels because people are lazy and can’t put items back where they found them).  Anyways, I decided to a variation of coq au vin (this cuts down on the amount of nasty e-mails telling me it can’t be called coq au vin since there is no rooster in the dish) and just call it chicken with red wine.

For this dish we are going to need:

• 1 stewing hen cut into 6-8 pieces (I like to use stewing for long cooks like this because they have more flavor over a young chicken.  The meat is not as tender and it does need a long time to break down properly).
• 6 strips of bacon (I used a couple pieces of pancetta since they were nearing the end of their life)
• 8 ounces of mushrooms quartered
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion medium diced
• 1 carrot medium diced
• 1 celery rib medium diced
• 3 cups of red wine (I used pinot noir)
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• Couple springs of thyme
• Couple bay leaves
• 2 tb of cornstarch

 Using a piece of cheesecloth wrap the thyme and bay leaf together and close with kitchen twine. 

Salt and pepper the chicken.  Over high heat cook the bacon till done.  Once the bacon is done remove it from the pan but leave the bacon fat in the pan. 

Add the chicken.  I like to work in batches and add the fatty pieces first (wings, thighs, and legs) and brown the breasts last.  Once the chicken is browned, remove it from the pan, and set aside.

Strain all but 1 tb of the fat and set aside (we will use this later).  Add in the carrot, celery, and onion.  Cook over medium-high heat till soft (about 5 minutes).

Once that is soft add in the mushrooms and cook till they have lost a lost of liquid (about 8-10 minutes). 

Once the mushrooms have reduced add in the garlic and stir for a minute.

Add in a cup of the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to remove all the unstuck bits.  Once it has been removed go ahead and add the rest of the wine, chicken broth, cheesecloth wrapped thyme and bay leaf, and bring to a boil.

Once at a boil, add the chicken back into the pot, lower to a simmer, cover, and let it sit for an hour.

After an hour check the chicken for doneness (when pricked the juices should run clear) and if it done remove the chicken from the pan.  If it is not done let it cook for another 10-15 minutes or until done.  Cover the chicken with foil and set aside.

Strain the sauce into a sauce pan and discard the veggies and herbs.

Over medium heat reduce the sauce by 1/3 and skim any fat that accumulates at the top.  

After reduced by 1/3 stir in a mixture of 2 tb cornstarch dissolved in a little bit of water,  bring to a boil, and shut off the heat.

The dish would be perfect to serve right now however, you could easily add some vegetables to the dish and use up that reserved fat from browning the chicken.

Pearl Onions

For this you will need:

• 20 pearl onions
• 2 TB unsalted butter
• pinch of sugar
• pinch of kosher salt
• water

About 10 minutes before the chicken is done cooking, cut an x in the root end of about 20 pearl onions.  Place them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.  Strain them and cut the root end off and squeeze them into a bowl (this is a quick way to remove the skins).

In a small saucepan add in 2tb of butter and melt.  Place the pearl onions in and cover them with the melted butter.

Add in a pinch of sugar and salt and cover with enough water just to barely cover the onions.  Bring to a simmer.

Let them cook till all the water has been evaporated.

Set aside.

Brandy Mushrooms

This will take about 10-15 minutes. 

For this you will need:

• Container of mushrooms caps cut into sizes a little larger than the pearl onions
• Strained fat from the bacon and browning of the chicken
• TB of brandy
• Kosher salt

Over high heat cook the caps in the strained bacon fat with a pinch of salt. 

Once the mushrooms have lost a lot of their water and are soft, remove the pan from the heat, add in a tb of brandy, readd the pan, and light.  Let it cook until the flames have dissappeared. 

Set aside.

Combine the chicken, mushrooms, onions, sauce, and serve over a bed of egg noodles.

 Serve and enjoy.

Tags: chicken, All //