Coq au Vin recipe (Proper method)
Ingredients
About 2 dozen baby onions
4 chicken thighs and legs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2T water
A few pieces of chopped bacon
1 cup button mushrooms, quartered
1T butter
1 (750-ml) bottle red wine, preferably pinot noir
2T tomato paste
1 medium onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
2 medium carrots, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken stock or broth
Method
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and drop in the baby onions for 1 minute. Remove the onions from the pot, allow them to cool, and then peel. You should be able to slide the onions right out of their skin. Set aside.
Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the chicken pieces, a few at a time, into a large sealable plastic bag along with the flour. Shake to coat all of the pieces of the chicken. Remove the chicken from the bag to a metal rack.
Add the 2 tablespoons of water to a large saute pan over medium heat along with the bacon. Cover and cook until the water is gone, and then continue to cook until the bacon cubes are golden brown and crispy, approximately 10 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, using the remaining fat, add the onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until lightly brown, approximately 10 minutes.
Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Next, brown the chicken pieces on each side until golden brown, working in batches if necessary to not overcrowd the pan. Transfer the chicken into a cast iron Dutch oven.
Add the mushrooms to the same pan, adding the 1 tablespoon of butter if needed, and saute until they give up their liquid, approximately 5 minutes. Store the onions, mushrooms and bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Pour off any remaining fat and deglaze the pan with approximately 1 cup of the wine. Pour this into the Dutch oven along with the chicken stock, tomato paste, quartered onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf.
Add all of the remaining wine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Place the chicken into 200 degree preheated oven for 2 and 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Once the chicken is done, remove it to a heatproof container, cover, and place it in the oven to keep warm. Strain the sauce in a colander and remove the carrots, onion, celery, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf. Return the sauce to the pot, place over medium heat, and reduce by 1/3. Depending on how much liquid you actually began with, this should take 20 to 45 minutes.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the pearl onions, mushrooms, and pork and cook for another 15 minutes or until the heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, remove from the heat, add the chicken and serve.
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