Chicagoist: Faux Coq Au Vin

KiraKun

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:34:07 -0600

Coq Au Vin isn't a stew. The only thing the recipe calls for as far as a stew is the chicken is "stewed" in the marinade that you soaked the chicken in. The liquid that is in the pan becomes a pan sauce after the chicken is cooked through. You can add Noodles as an accompaniment but it's not part of the main dish. Generally when plating this dish you'd place the chicken on the plate along with any side dishes you want. Then drizzle the pan sauce over the chicken.

Phil

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:58:36 -0600

Caroline, Thank you for posting this. I have always wanted to try this dish. Although some of the comments are helpful, I picture a bunch of angry Star Trek type dorks, like star fleet ensign Jeff, behind the vitriolic slamming of your cooking. It brings a smile to my face. Thank you. Keep the good work!

dpnash

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 22:56:17 -0600

I have to agree with the other comments that the photo looks really, um, not good. If you want a good coq au vin recipe, get Julia Child's classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vol. I." It's not really very complicated, and she explains all the steps quite well. (I would offer two small simplifications - she says to boil the bacon to remove the smokiness of American bacon. These days pancetta is easier to find and lets you skip the boiling. Also she says to add some cognac at one point and flame it off - I did that and scared the hell out of myself. I've since been told by better cooks than I that the flaming is unnecessary, you can just let it boil off.)

kellyg

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:12:45 -0600

whoa...that looks really bad, I agree with the color being off b/c the chicken looks purple to me. YIKEs!

navin

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:34:09 -0600

Mmmm. Chicken a la Squid Ink.

Caroline

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:29:20 -0600

Oh my. I knew I'd get in trouble for not browning, but I didn't realize that I'd get in trouble for how it looked. Bad appearance noted. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Attrill

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:03:43 -0600

I'm glad it tasted good - but as soon as you boiled the chicken it was never going to taste anything like Coq Au Vin. It's not a matter of "classic" style or not, it is the taste of it. Jeff is right, the chicken and vegetables need to be browned and simmered in a wine/stock mixture. Boiling the chicken takes out a lot of the chicken flavor (it's left in the stock you've made). Boiling it also added water to the sauce so you had to add flour, it tastes a lot better if it's just a reduction sauce.

curmudgeon

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:39:35 -0600

Rich, to get a really good pic of food you need a "food stylist". For some reason, even the most beautiful food looks gross when done by an amateur. You should have seen the pic of mac and cheese a couple of years ago. YUK!

Jeff

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:39:35 -0600

The reason your dish turned out a sickly mauve color is that you didn't brown the chicken. Why did you skip this step? I would say it is probably the single most important thing you could do when making this. Browning the chicken before adding the liquid is what gives this dish most of it's flavor! Really, you went through some unnecessarily complex steps, and didn't brown the chicken? Ridiculous. Here's an off the top of my head version, which though also not 100% authentic, is guaranteed to taste, and definitely look better. Brown a bunch of chicken in some oil, and throw in a strip of bacon while this happens if you want. When the pieces of chicken are thouroughly browned, dump in some water (or chicken stock - even canned is fine) and some red wine, just until the chicken is covered. Add some garlic (3 whole cloves) some cut up carrot pieces, and some onions (you can brown the onions a bit before you add them if you want). Add some dried thyme and a bay leaf. Cook this covered on low heat (simmer) for 45 minutes. Open the pot and taste it. Add salt as necessary, let it cook a bit uncovered if it's too thin and watery looking. If you want to get fancy, add some chopped fresh parsley at this point. You can add a squeeze of lemon, or another dash of red wine if it tates oily. If you want to keep getting fancy, you can take out the chicken pieces at this stage, take all the meat off and discard the bones and skin. This will have a nice mahogany-red/brown color, and will actually taste like a rich stew with flavors from the browned bits the chicken left from the ESSENTIAL STEP of initial browning.

Skippin Lunch Now

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:36:32 -0600

My monitor isn't off. It looks gross and dead. I thought the picture was a joke at first. Photoshop a little yum into that pic.

michael

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:51:39 -0600

Louis Jadot makes a better Beaujolais-Villages for about two more dollars. When cooking with wine go with what tastes good to you. Cooking the wine will reduce it and enhance the flavors, making them stronger. If you're looking for a good wine that's not so pricey but still great, check out the Côtes du Rhône or any of the Beaujolais Cru's that have fancy names. A good Pinot Noir from the region would be great, also.

Rich

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:50:01 -0600

Maybe my monitor is off but that color doesn't look too appetizing to me...