best coq au vin recipe
Basic ingredients for best coq au vin recipe
- Bacon (ideally slab bacon) of 12 ounces (350 grams)
- Chicken thighs, 1.5-2 lbs (0.7-1 kg), boneless and skinless
- A big pinch of flour
- Dried mushrooms, 1 oz (30g)
- Tomato paste, 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
- One cup (250 ml) of red wine
- Water or chicken stock, 1-2 cups (250-500 ml)
- One to two teaspoons Herbes de Provence (or any combination of dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc.)
- 1 cup frozen peeled pearl onions (I don’t know what you call them in metric)
- pepper
- salt
- vinegar
- Dried egg noodles, 12 ounces (350 grams)
- Butter, 1 tbsp (15g)
- Garnish with fresh parsley or tarragon
How to make best coq au vin recipe
- Place the bacon in a large, cold pan with a lid, then cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy – up to a half hour if the bacon is thick.
- Dust with flour, and coat the chicken thighs.
- When dried mushrooms are rehydrated, they will double in size, so break them up into large chunks. (Don’t freak out, they won’t hurt anything, but ideally, take them out.) Don’t panic, it’s normal. (If you want to make sure that there won’t be any grains of sand on them, follow the steeping and filtering instructions on the package, but I don’t care.)
- It is possible to remove some of the bacon fat by fishing the bacon out with a slotted spoon and pouring it off. I leave it in, and just push the bacon to one side. Fry the chicken thighs in the bacon fat until brown on both sides. Pour in the tomato paste and fry until it turns brown. Deglaze with red wine when it becomes about to burn.
- Then add the mushrooms, herbs, pepper, and salt (assuming you aren’t using salt pork as I do). Now Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.
- You can remove the lid after about a half hour if you feel the sauce is too loose. Stir in the frozen onions and let them thaw when the sauce is reduced to your desired thickness. Taste the sauce for seasoning when it’s ready, and add any additional salt. Do not break up the chicken as you stir in the final seasoning, but add a splash of vinegar if needed.
- Then cook the egg noodles in salted water, drain, add the butter, let it melt, and sprinkle with fresh parsley or tarragon just before serving.