Coq au Vin

Coq au Vin 

Chicken cooked in Red Wine 

And Our Christmas event 'Kickstarting Christmas' which I am organizing with Pritha from
Guilt-Free  continues.

Today's choice , Coq au Vin Rouge. So basically I have been obsessed with the classic culinary book 'Larousse Gastronomique ' and decided that I must make the Coq au Vin which I had planned on making quite some time ago before I purchased the book but then again my grandmother doesn't eat bacon and I adapted the recipe and my friend Karen from France assured me that as long as there is the coq and the vin its Coq au vin.

My first Coq au Vin

So my father is coming back home and I had decided to make a stew and what better way to spruce it up than some full bodied red wine.

For this recipe a chicken with the skin on is a definite requirement else it loses out on its flavour.

Its a simple recipe and yields amazingly comforting warm results. The flavour of wine infused with bay leaf, thyme, rosemary , parsley along with onions carrots and a good quality stock makes it the perfect winter treat and the wine gives it a definitive Christmas like feel.

Once you have this dish bursting with flavours do have some Spiced carrot Cake with Apricots , Walnuts and Raisins  which Pritha has made.

Serves 5 to 6

So here is the recipe :-

1 whole 2 kilogram chicken with the skin on
20gm butter
250gm baby carrots
5 to 6 small onions
Bouquet garni made with Thyme, parsley, bay leaf and rosemary
Salt as per taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4th cup red wine


Ask your butcher to  carefully debone the chicken  and make pieces with the skin on.

Use the bone from the breast along with the liver , some fat and giblet to make a stock with 1 litre water , salt and a bay leaf. Bring this to a boil and simmer till reduced to half.

Once the stock is made melt the butter and brown the onions and carrots and then add the chicken all except the pieces from the breast and brown it well on medium flame stirring from time to time and then add the stock and bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 20 minutes and add the pieces of breast along with the wine and simmer covered for another 10 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes to 15 minutes and take out the bouquet garni and serve it with some freshly made bread.

Tips

1. Chicken breasts when over cooked become dry and tough which is why it is added much later while cooking.
2. Resting the dish not only enhances the flavour but gives time to the pieces from the chicken breast to become soft and juicy if at all they become stringy.  

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