Everybody wants, nay requires, a formidable hen dish for household, firm, and particular occasions. However nobody wants the drudgery of stooping over-the-counter for hours placing collectively a recipe with a gazillion elements and steps.
Say bonjour to Julia Baby’s coq au vin.
The one uncommon elements, for those who can name them that, are Cognac and lardons. The primary is a staple at liquor shops, and you may substitute thick-cut bacon for the second. In simply 1 1/2 hours, you’ll have a meal that’ll make you ache for Paris.
To be sincere, I hadn’t made this dish since final winter. After whipping it up this week, I used to be reminded how easy, simple, and deeply flavored it’s. I assume classics are classics for a motive.
Why Our Testers Beloved This
Our testers have been extremely blissful that this basic consolation meal might be ready prematurely or within the gradual cooker. Jackie Gorman described the excellent taste of this dish as “succulent.”
What You’ll Must Make This
- Lardons–Common in French delicacies, these are strips of salty slab bacon that crisp when cooked, with simply the correct amount of meatiness. In the event you can’t discover lardons, choose up slab or thickly sliced bacon and slice it into 1/4-inch matchsticks.
- Hen–You need to use any assortment of bone-in hen items for coq au vin. I like utilizing thighs and drumsticks as a result of they’re darkish meat and extra flavorful.
- Cognac or Armagnac–Each are French brandies and can work equally nicely within the dish. Cognac is a bit smoother, whereas Armagnac has a bit extra punch to it.
- Pearl onions–To peel pearl onions simply, blanch them in a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes, then plunge into an ice bathtub. The peels will slip proper off. And for those who’re not within the temper for that, purchase frozen pearl onions. I received’t maintain it in opposition to you.
- Purple wine–This can be a basic French dish from the Burgundy area, so I like to recommend utilizing a crimson from the area. However extra importantly, select one you get pleasure from, because it’ll be noticeable within the completed dish. No matter you do, don’t select a candy wine.
- Hen inventory–For the most effective taste, use do-it-yourself brown hen inventory. You can also make it by searing or roasting uncooked hen items (backs, necks, and wings are very best) till browned, then simmering them in water with carrots, celery, and onion for two to three hours. Pressure the inventory earlier than utilizing. Retailer-bought hen or beef broth can be utilized instead.
- Mushrooms–Common white button or brown (cremini) mushrooms work nicely right here, however when you’ve got entry to a different sort of mushroom, equivalent to shiitake, be happy to experiment.
Methods to Make Coq au Vin
- Prepare dinner the lardons or bacon in 2 tablespoons of oil in a big pot till browned and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to switch the lardons to a plate.
- Working in batches if obligatory, brown the hen items within the drippings. Return the hen to the pot.
- Pour within the Cognac or Armagnac.
- Fastidiously(!!!!) ignite the liqueur if desired. Let the alcohol flame for a minute, then cowl the pot to extinguish.
- Add the bay leaf, thyme, and onions. Cowl and simmer for 10 minutes, turning the hen items as soon as. Season with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the flour over the hen and switch the items so the flour is integrated into the sauce. Cowl and cook dinner for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Off the warmth, swirl within the wine and inventory, including sufficient inventory to virtually cowl the hen. Stir within the lardons, garlic, and tomato paste. Cowl and simmer for 25 to half-hour.
- Add the mushrooms and cook dinner till tender. Season to style and serve.
Variation: Sluggish Cooker Coq au Vin
Sure, you may make Julia Baby’s coq au vin recipe in a gradual cooker. Simply perceive that the complexity of this French basic depends largely on the caramelization that comes from searing or sautéing varied elements in a scorching skillet previous to jumbling all of them collectively to simmer. Making coq au vin in a gradual cooker nonetheless seems a stunning and worthwhile stew, albeit one with simply barely much less depth of taste.
If utilizing the lardons (or bacon), toss them in a heavy-bottomed casserole or pot together with 2 tablespoons oil over medium or medium-high till evenly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the lardons and their drippings to the gradual cooker and add the remaining elements aside from the oil and the flour, utilizing only one cup of inventory.
Prepare dinner on medium warmth for five 1/2 to six hours, till the hen is tender. Switch the hen to a platter or a serving dish.
Warmth the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high warmth, stir within the flour, and cook dinner till it varieties a paste and simply begins to show brown on the edges. Stirring consistently, very slowly pressure the liquid from the gradual cooker into the saucepan and simmer till it has decreased to a consistency that’s thick sufficient to coat the again of the spoon.
Switch the onions to a platter with the chickens and discard the bay leaf. Pour the decreased sauce over the hen and onions.
Widespread Questions
The literal translation of coq au vin is “rooster (cock) with wine.” Though the dish is sort of all the time made with hen now, the identify has endured.
With all due respect to the inimitable Julia Baby, that doyenne of all issues French, there are extra genuine variations of the basic French hen and wine stew than her recipe. However the great thing about Julia was that she was particularly acutely aware of translating fussy French recipes for American lots in want of manageable cooking strategies.
As such, a few widespread, although not obligatory, flavor-making steps have been omitted within the making of her model of the French basic. You’ll be able to contemplate incorporating them again into your coq au vin routine to imbue it with layer after layer of complexity.
First, uncork that bottle of crimson and douse the chook, permitting it to take an in a single day bathtub within the fridge to infuse the meat with a refined however sure depth of taste—to not point out a barely bizarre maroon hue. Drain the hen then pat it dry and proceed with the searing, reserving the wine to make use of throughout cooking.
One other simple trick? Sauté these teensy pearl onions within the rendered bacon drippings previous to including them to the stew for what we predict are apparent causes. Identical goes with the mushrooms.
And by no means, ever serve the stew right away from the stovetop; quite, let it cool after which refrigerate it ’until the following day, skimming any fats from the floor and heating the coq au vin gently—and I do imply gently—over low warmth till warmed via. And also you thought you didn’t know easy methods to communicate French.
Though it’s not conventional, I’ve had many requests for easy methods to make coq au vin with carrots added to it. I attempted it and located the easiest way is so as to add 1-inch carrot chunks to the pot in step 6, together with the bacon, garlic, and tomato paste.
Julia would advocate that you just use a full-bodied crimson Burgundy, Cotes du Rhone, or Beaujolais, and we heartily agree. That stated, choose a wine you get pleasure from ingesting, as you’ll have some left to get pleasure from whereas your hen is simmering away.
Useful Suggestions
- In case your hen items have extra pores and skin or fats hanging off them, trim it away earlier than cooking.
- When searing the hen items, don’t crowd the pot. This may result in steaming as an alternative of searing. The items ought to match comfortably within the backside of the pot, with a little bit of house between each bit. Brown the hen in batches if obligatory.
Storage & Reheating Directions
You’ll be able to put together this coq au vin recipe as much as 3 days earlier than serving it. Retailer it in a sealed container within the fridge, then gently reheat it in a big pot or Dutch oven over low warmth till all the things is warmed via.
What to Serve with this Recipe
You’ll need to sop up each final drop of that stunning sauce, so I extremely advocate serving this with mashed potatoes, or some artisan bread.
Extra Very good Recipes from Julia Baby
Write a Evaluate
In the event you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, contemplate leaving a evaluate, a star score, and your greatest photograph within the feedback beneath. I really like listening to from you.–David
That is the greatest coq au vin recipe I’ve ever eaten. Completely scrumptious and nice to make forward.
Karen
- 1/2 cup lardons or thickly sliced bacon, minimize into 1/4- by 1 1/2-inch (6- by 36-mm) strips (non-compulsory)
- 2 or extra tablespoons olive oil
- 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 kilos hen, minimize into items (or all the identical piece), completely dried with paper towel
- 1/4 cup Cognac or Armagnac
- Salt and freshly floor black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 20 pearl onions, peeled
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups crimson wine, ideally Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône, or pinot noir
- About 2 cups do-it-yourself hen inventory or beef inventory, ideally brown hen inventory (see headnote above)
- 2 garlic cloves, mashed
- About 1 tablespoon store-bought or do-it-yourself tomato paste
- 3/4 pound contemporary mushrooms, trimmed, rinsed, and quartered
- Contemporary thyme sprigs, for garnish (non-compulsory)
Forestall your display screen from going darkish
Sear the lardons or bacon within the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high warmth till evenly browned, about 2 minutes. Switch to a plate, leaving the drippings within the pot.
Add the hen, being cautious to not crowd the items. It’s possible you’ll must work in batches. Sear the hen, turning often, till properly browned on all sides. (If working in batches, return all of the hen to the pot.)
Fastidiously pour the Cognac into the pot and wait till it turns into effervescent scorching. If desired—and for those who’re courageous—ignite the sauce with a match. Let it flame for a minute, gently tilting the pot by its deal with and swirling the sauce to burn off the alcohol. To extinguish the flames, merely cowl the pan with its lid.
Add the bay leaf and thyme to the pan, nestle the onions across the hen, and season with salt and pepper. Cowl the pot and simmer gently, turning the items as soon as for about 10 minutes.
Uncover the pot, sprinkle the flour over all the things, and switch the hen and onions so the flour is absorbed by the sauce. Cowl and cook dinner, turning a few times, for 3 to 4 minutes extra.
Take away the pot from the warmth and step by step stir within the wine and sufficient inventory to virtually cowl the hen. Add the lardons, garlic, and tomato paste, cowl, and simmer gently for 25 to half-hour.
Take a look at the hen for doneness. (There ought to be no hint of pink, and the juices ought to run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife.) Switch the items to the plate after they’re completed.
If the onions aren’t fairly tender, proceed cooking them within the sauce, then return the hen to the pot, add the mushrooms, and simmer for 4 to five minutes.
The sauce ought to be simply thick sufficient to coat the hen and greens evenly. (If the sauce is simply too skinny, deliver it to a boil and scale back it to the specified consistency. If the sauce is simply too thick, skinny it with spoonfuls of inventory.) Style and proper the seasoning accordingly.
Serve instantly, garnished with thyme sprigs.
- Trimming the hen–In case your hen items have extra pores and skin or fats that hangs off of them, trim it away earlier than cooking.
- Storage and reheating–You’ll be able to put together this coq au vin recipe as much as 3 days earlier than serving it. Retailer it in a sealed container within the fridge, then gently reheat it in a big pot or Dutch oven over low warmth till all the things is warmed via.
Serving: 1 portionEnergy: 1081 kcalCarbohydrates: 30 gProtein: 49 gFats: 71 gSaturated Fats: 22 gMonounsaturated Fats: 33 gTrans Fats: 0.2 gLdl cholesterol: 195 mgSodium: 426 mgFiber: 4 gSugar: 11 g
Diet data is robotically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Recipe © 1979 Julia Baby. Pictures © 2024 David Leite. All rights reserved.
Recipe Testers’ Critiques
Fantastic recipe, Julia! Nice layers and depth of flavors.
I made this utilizing 9 skin-on, bone-in hen thighs. I seasoned the thighs with salt and pepper earlier than browning them in a Dutch oven as a result of that appeared to make extra sense than seasoning them afterward.
After browning the hen thighs in batches, I browned the pearl onions within the bacon grease blended with the fats from the hen thighs. There was an excessive amount of hen fats left within the pot, in addition to a charred buildup, so we cleaned the pan earlier than including the Armagnac, igniting it, and continuing with the recipe.
I used 2 cups Syrah for the crimson wine, since Syrah is without doubt one of the grapes utilized in Côtes du Rhône. When it got here to lastly simmering the hen, the thighs have been completed after 20 minutes. The onions weren’t fairly completed at this level, so I eliminated the hen, added the mushrooms, and simmered for about 3 to 4 minutes extra. I allowed all the things to chill down, put the hen again into the pot, and put the pot into the fridge.
The following day I took the pot out a few hours earlier than dinner to let all the things come as much as room temperature earlier than reheating. There was no congealed fats on the floor of the stew. I feel that cleansing out the pot after browning the hen and the onions was the way in which to go.
I let all the things heat up very, very slowly on a simmer setting. I made mashed potatoes utilizing a ricer in order that they have been extraordinarily silky and creamy.
Julia Baby’s coq au vin served over the mashed potatoes was, in a phrase, succulent. By the way in which, I added extra mushrooms and pearl onions than the recipe known as for, and we hungered for much more. This was a phenomenal dish served with multi-colored child carrots.
We had an Oregon medium-bodied pinot with this dish. It was a sensible choice, as a result of it let the coq au vin shine by itself. An even bigger wine would’ve overpowered it.
I tailored Julia Baby’s coq au vin recipe for a gradual cooker.
I put all of the elements besides the olive oil and the flour within the gradual cooker and cooked it on medium warmth for six hours. I omitted the bacon/lardons. I used the complete 2 cups wine however only one cup broth. I used bone-in skin-on hen legs and thighs (about 4 kilos).
When the hen was tender, I transferred it to a bowl, heated the olive oil in a pot, added the flour and cooked it, and stirred in your complete quantity of liquid from the gradual cooker and decreased it in order that it was thick sufficient to coat the hen.
The hen was extremely juicy, tender, and flavorful. I might maybe have decreased the cooking time to about 5 1/2 hours and been simply wonderful. This labored very well for me.