Coq au Vin: Take one

As my excitement to go to Paris is increasing by the minute (less than a month left!!!), I’m craving French food more than ever.

Coq au Vin [coke oh vaahn] is a traditional French dish of seared rooster, simmered with vegetables in chicken broth, red or white wine and herbs. Rooster is hard to find these days, unless you raise and slaughter it yourself, so for the most part Coq au Vin today is made with chicken. I read a few recipes but didn’t follow any specific one. This recipe was adapted to what I had on hand and it turned out pretty good for a first time. I’m planning to keep working on it though.

(Servings: 4)

Ingredients:

4 slices bacon

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into chunks

½ c + 1 tbsp flour

½ tsp poultry seasoning*

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

10 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 medium carrots, chopped**

¼ c cognac

¾ c chicken broth

1 c red, full-bodied wine, such as Burgundy

2 bay leaves

*Use Herbs de Provence if possible.

**I ran out of carrots so I had to omit them for this time.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon until crispy and remove from pan. In a shallow dish, combine ½ c flour with ¾ tsp salt+pepper and poultry seasoning. Toss the chicken in the flour mixture and brown in bacon grease on all sides, on medium-high heat, about 5 min. Add the vegetables and sauté for about 3 min. Remove pan from heat and add cognac. Immediately light a long match, hold it over the pot and light the fumes. The cognac will catch fire and the flame will burn out within 1 min. Turn the heat back on. (The flambéing did not work at all for me so I had to let it simmer for a few minutes to burn out the alcohol.) Stir in the broth and wine and add the bay leaves and extra flour. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and cook for 40 min, stirring occasionally. Then remove cover and simmer for another 10 min to let the sauce reduce and thicken. And voila! Top with reserved bacon and serve with hunks of fresh baguette.