Coq au Vin (blanc) recipe

(French for: Chicken cooked in white wine)   Ingredients for 4 people:   - Fresh chicken - 1/2 bottle white wine - 2 large onions (or 4 medium onions) - ¼ pound (125 g.) of bacon - 4 cloves garlic - Bouquet garni (or 4 bay leaves) - 1 cup (250 ml.) chicken broth (not absolutely required) - Butter - Flour

Recipe:

• Cut the onions into small pieces and glaze them in butter (glazing onions is frying them over a moderate heat until they are cooked). Stir and use a moderate heat to ensure they are not burnt. Once cooked, put the onions in a cooking pot

• Using the same frying pan, cook the bacon. Stir and use a moderate heat to ensure they are not burnt. Once cooked, add the bacon to the cooking pot

• Cut the chicken into approximately 10 pieces (wing, each leg into two, each breast into 2)

• Fry the chicken pieces in butter until golden brown (taking care not to burn the butter or chicken). While frying, sprinkle flour over the chicken pieces, turn and sprinkle flour on the other side, then turn again. Once cooked, add the chicken to the cooking pot

• Finely chop the garlic and add to the pot. Add the wine and chicken broth (if you don't have chicken broth, use a bit of extra wine instead). Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken pieces are very tender

• Serve

Side dish: Rice or potatoes

Notes:

This recipe has been reduced to its basic essentials. There are many different versions of it, most of which involve additional ingredients. Some possible additions (partly for taste, partly for visual appeal) to the above are as follows (you can use one or any combination of the following):

• A handful of small shallots (or baby onions); cooked in the pot with the other ingredients

• Several carrots, peeled and quartered; cooked in the pot with the other ingredients

• Celery; cooked in the pot with the other ingredients

• Mushrooms; cooked in the pot with the other ingredients

• Thyme; cooked in the pot with the other ingredients

• Parsley. It should be chopped fine and sprinkled onto the top of the serving dish, after cooking and before serving.

One should use an ordinary bottle of wine for this recipe. A bad bottle might ruin the dish, whereas investing in a fine bottle would be a shame as the subtle tones of an expensive bottle would be lost during cooking. Avoid strong tasting wines (e.g. a wine which has been aged for a long time in a barrel and thus has an "oaky" taste) as this would conflict with the taste of the chicken. A simple Chardonnay would be most suitable.

For other Coq au Vin recipes, as well as its history, click on Coq au Vin.