The Need To Know Classic That Is: Coq au Vin

The person who first cooked something in wine had to have known they were onto something. While this technique can be traced back to Julius Caesar's day, coq au vin (literally chicken with wine) was perfected by the French, with a recipe for poulet au vin blanc, appearing in a cookbook as far back as 1864. This dish is so perfect an example of French cooking that it's little wonder Julia Child added it to her repertoire, and best of all, it is a dish that is dead simple to make. I recently made the recipe below for an anniversary dinner, and I highly recommend it for when you want to have a special dinner but you don't want to go out to eat.

Ingredients

1.8 kg chicken, cut into eight pieces, or eight chicken parts
710 mL red wine (use Burgundy if you're a traditionalist)
450 g pearl onions, peeled
330 g mushrooms (button mushrooms are normally used)
225 g lardons

• a lardon is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat. Pancetta can be used as a substitute; I used whatever bacon I had in the fridge

30 g butter
30 mL olive oil
at least 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 bouquet garni

• a bouquet garni is a bunch of herbs tied up in cheesecloth used to season your food. Traditionally bay leaves, parsley, and thyme is used; I used what was in the "Mixed Herbs" packet I had in the cupboard

flour
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Put some flour in a large plastic zip-top bag, add the chicken, seal, and shake to cover the meat evenly. Heat the olive oil and the butter in a Dutch oven or casserole dish, and cook the chicken over high heat for five to six minutes until browned - depending on the size of your pan, this may require doing so in batches.
2. Remove the chicken when it has finished cooking and set the meat aside somewhere to keep warm. Cook the bacon in the same pan until it is crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, add the onions and cook them for four to five minutes until they begin to brown. Pour in the wine and stir the contents to remove anything sticking to the sides and bottom of the cooking dish.
3. Place the chicken and the bacon back in the pot and add the garlic and the bouquet garni. Bring everything to a boil, cover, then place the dish in the centre of the oven for 75 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and let everything cook for another 15 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, take out the chicken, bacon, mushrooms, and onions, and place them in a serving dish. The bouquet garni can be thrown out.
5. Return the cooking dish and its juices to low heat on the stove, and check to see if more salt and/or pepper is required, then bring to a rapid boil until the sauce is thick and glossy. Pour the sauce over the food and serve immediately on its own, or with crusty French bread, mashed or roasted potatoes or anything starchy to soak up the sauce.

Note: The above recipe was taken from "Cook's Bible" by Lorraine Turner, Parragon Books Ltd.