Coq Au Vin Recipe

I love coq au vin and it's just a really nice meal to serve up as a winter warmer or if you have dinner guests. It’s fabulous served with creamy mash potatoes and fresh vegetables and the meat just falls off of the bones.

Here is my favourite coq au vin recipe, cooked in a Dutch oven. The recipe serves six but can easily be doubled or halved and freezes well.

Ingredients

½ lb of smoked bacon ( this can be salty so if you don’t like it salty blanch it)

6 whole chicken legs with the skin on

Approx. 20 shallots or pearl onions

6 garlic cloves peeled and left whole

2 cups or 273 ml of chicken stock

2 cups or 273 ml of red wine

2 bay leaves

Sprigs of thyme

Sprigs of parsley

½ lb button mushrooms

2 tablespoons of butter

Chopped parsley for garnish.

Method

If you don’t like your coq au vin too salty then firstly blanch the bacon. Place the bacon in a pan of cold water and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the bacon in cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Cut the bacon into small pieces and put Into a Dutch and fry until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and then using the fat from the bacon, brown the chicken legs on both sides for approx. 10 minutes.

Next add the shallots and garlic and continue to fry to brown the shallots for a few minutes. This will also begin to release the flavour from the garlic. Once the shallots have started to colour add the chicken stock , red wine, bacon and herbs ( I tie my herbs together with string to make it easier to remove later on.)

Bring the liquid to a simmer and then place the lid on the Dutch oven and leave it to cook for around 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove it and the onions and keep it warm on a separate platter. Remove and discard the herbs and garlic. Then add the mushrooms to the liquid and increase the heat to a boil and this will reduce the liquid and thicken and intensify the flavours. Let it reduce down to a quarter. Add the butter to the liquid and stir in until melted. This will give the sauce a lovely velvet gloss.

Return the chicken and shallots to the pan and coat the chicken in the now reduced sauce, season to taste and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Your coq au vin is ready to serve. Delicious!