Coq au Vin Assez Rapide Recipe

Chicken with wine is one of those special dishes I’ve found everywhere in my travels through Burgundy. Classic coq au vin can be fussy and time-consuming, as some recipes call for marinating the chicken in wine overnight and peeling a lot of petits oignons (here, frozen pearl onions are used – no one will know the difference). The assez rapide (pretty quick) recipe gets right to the heart of the classic dish without a lot of fuss.

The traditional wine for coq au vin is a Pinot Noir from Burgundy. But I’ve always enjoyed this dish most when made with that other Burgundian red – the terrific cru Beaujolais (made from the Gamay grape). To me, Beaujolais is the quintessential dinner-at-home wine – fruity, soft, and approachable – and it goes with everything. Get an extra bottle to drink with dinner.

Ingredients:
3 to 4 pounds bone-in, skin on chicken breast halves and/or thighs
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium-size carrot, peeled and diced
3 large shallots, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cru Beaujolais, such as Beaujolais Villages, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Morgon, or Brouilly (not Beaujolais Nouveau); you can also use Pinot Noir
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed
1 tbsp snipped fresh parsley, plus additional snipped fresh parsley or chives, or a combination, for the garnish
1/2 tspn dried thyme, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions
3 tbsp unsalted butter
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, stems trimmed, left whole if small, quartered or halved if larger

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Snip away and discard any excess skin from the chicken thighs. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in 1/2 cup of the flour, pat off the excess, and set aside. Cook the bacon in a braiser or oven-safe Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add the vegetable oil to the bacon fat left in the braiser; heat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides, 10 to 15 minutes (reduce the heat to medium if the chicken browns too quickly). Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the braiser.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrot and shallots to the braiser; cook, stirring, until the carrots soften somewhat and the shallots are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds more. Add the wine and chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Return the chicken, skin side up, to the braiser and add the bacon.
4. Cover the braiser and transfer to the oven. Bake until the chicken is tender and no longer pink (the internal temperature should register 170 degrees Fahrenheit for breasts, 180 degrees Fahrenheit for thighs), about 1 hour.
5. About 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, cook the frozen pearl onions in a large saucepan according to the package directions. Drain and leave in the colander. In the same saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat; add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until tender and lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Return the onions to the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep warm.
6. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken pieces to a large platter; cover with foil to keep warm. Discard the bay leaf. Pour the juices and solids into a large measuring cup and skim off the fat. You want a total of 2 cups of pan liquid, including the bacon, carrot, shallots, and garlic in the liquid. If you have more, boil the liquid in the pot over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 cups. If you have less, add additional chicken broth to make 2 cups, return the liquid to the pot, and bring to a boil.
7. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour together to make a paste (a beurre manié). Add the beurre manié bit by bit to the cooking liquid, stirring with a wire whisk to blend away any lumps. Cook, stirring, until the mixture boils and thickens, then continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Add the onions and mushrooms and heat through.
8. Divide the chicken among six shallow bowls. Pour the sauce over the chicken, dividing the bacon, mushrooms, and onions evenly. Top each serving with a sprinkling of parsley or chives and serve.

Makes 6 servings

Recipe courtesy of The Bonne Femme Cookbook by Wini Moranville