Chef Katie Grebow says her recipe for the classic French dish Coq au Vin is “a bit more ambitious” than many recipes “but it’s not that hard or time-consuming.”
Serves 4
4 chicken leg quarters, skin-on *
1 onion, small
1 leek
2 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 bottle red wine, preferably Pinot Noir or French Burgundy
1 bunch thyme
5 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
5 slices bacon
1 cup or more flour
1/4 cup or more bacon fat (or olive oil)
2 tablespoons tomato paste (1/4 can)
1/4 cup brandy
2 cups chicken stock (broth, reduced sodium)
1/2 pound button mushrooms
1 bag pearl onions
1 bunch parsley
*Preferably free-range and all-natural
The first part of the recipe is prepared 48 hours before the second part.
1. Roughly chop onion, leek, carrots and celery into a 1/2-inch dice.
2. Place all the vegetables in a pot big enough to hold all the wine in the bottle. Add the thyme, garlic, bay leaves, washed stems of the parsley, and wine.
3. Boil for 10 minutes or so to take the alcohol out of the wine. Let the red-wine marinade cool, leaving the vegetables and herbs in it.
4. For appearance’ sake, you may opt to french the chicken legs by cutting a circle around the end of the drumstick and pulling the flesh up and off the end of the bone.
5. When the marinade is cool, add the unsalted chicken to it. Make sure the entire chicken is covered by the wine. Put a plate on top to keep everything sunk.
6. Marinate chicken in the fridge for 48 hours.
* * *
1. Cook the bacon slices in the oven or microwave or pan. Save the fat for sautéing. Roughly chop the cooked bacon and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
3. Pull chicken legs out of the marinade, shaking off all of the wine and vegetables. Pour all of the marinade through a strainer and save the vegetables and herbs.
4. Also optional for appearance’ sake, to improve the clarity of the sauce — bring the red wine by itself to a boil over low heat. This will make all of the impurities coagulate and come to the top. After about 15 minutes, strain the red wine through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, or try and scoop it out with a slotted spoon.
5. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel so that it sears well. Season the chicken legs on the front and back with salt and pepper.
6. Put flour on a plate and dredge the legs by laying them into the flour on both sides and shaking the excess off.
7. Get a sauté pan fairly hot over medium-high heat. Make sure the chicken and flour is still dry when ready to sauté, if not, re-dredge the chicken.
8. Once the pan is hot, add some bacon fat and sear the leg skin side down; when browned, flip and sear the other side, too. When that side is browned, take the leg out of the pan and hold.
9. In the same pan (if large) or another taller pot, add some more bacon fat and sauté the vegetables and herbs over medium-low heat. It will take a while for them to start caramelizing because they are wet from the wine. Sauté them for a while, until some color develops on the vegetables.
10. Add the tomato paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the brandy, doing so away from the flame and let it cook for a couple minutes. Add the red wine and the chicken stock. Turn the heat up and let it come to a boil, then turn off.
11. Put chicken legs in a glass or ceramic baking dish or leave in a big sauté pan that can hold all of the liquid. Pour all of the liquid and vegetables over the chicken. Cover with aluminum foil. Put in oven for 2 hours.
12. While chicken cooks, prepare the mushrooms and pearl onions. Bring a little water to boil in a pot and drop in the pearl onions. Cook for a few minutes and then drain. Cut off both ends and peel them.
13. Quarter the button mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms and pearl onions in bacon fat, olive oil or butter until browned. Season and add the cooked bacon and set aside. Chop the parsley and set aside.
14. Skim fat off wine sauce and discard. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. If it is not yet, put into a pot and reduce a little until it is. Do not season sauce until it is fully reduced. Taste for salt, it may not need any. The chicken legs may be reheated within this sauce.
15. Serve warmed chicken legs with red-wine sauce poured over them. Warm mixture of button mushroom, pearl onion and bacon and scatter atop chicken legs. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Serve with broad noodles, such as a pappardelle type, or roasted potatoes and a green vegetable like haricots verts green beans.
Coq au Vin