Coq Au Vin Recipe Mary Berry Recipes

COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done. Set aside.
• Add the carrots, onions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.
• Mash 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium saute pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.

EASY COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Joint the chicken (for pictures of jointing, click on step by step link above or read the instructions below. Alternatively, ask the butcher to do it for you).
• JOINTING THE CHICKEN: Pull out the wing joints and cut off the wing tip. Using a small knife, cut around the skin and flesh on the lower wing joint through to the bone, then scrape back the flesh. Using a heavier large knife, smash through the bone halfway along and detach. Repeat on the other side.
• Detach the scaly leg bone at the drumstick with a hefty thump of the large knife. Slash through skin where the thigh joins the body and pull leg firmly from socket to dislocate the thigh bone. Press down and pull to expose the 'oyster' muscle underneath the bird. Slice the thigh away from the back of the body.
• Lay the whole leg joint out on the board, find the mid-point socket joint and simply cut straight through it for neat thigh and leg joints. Repeat on the other side.
• Cut through the skin and flesh halfway along to the drumstick and scrape back the flesh, then smash through the bone.
• Using poultry scissors or heavy kitchen scissors, cut away the back half of the breast carcass, to leave a 'crown' of chicken breast and wing joint. Cut through the top of the crown to divide in half for two chicken breasts.
• Lay each breast joint on the board, then cut in half again at right angles so you have one portion with a wing joint and one without. You should now have eight neat, joints of chicken.
• Put the flour into a bowl with some salt and pepper, then toss in the chicken, shaking off the excess. Place the chicken on a plate and season again.
• Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a large shallow pan and brown the chicken joints. (Do this in batches if your pan is not large enough, adding extra oil if necessary.) Tip the bacon into the pan along with the chicken, stirring until lightly browned and crisp. Using tongs, remove the chicken to a plate.
• Add all the vegetables and herbs to the bacon with a splash more oil, if necessary, then cook for about 5 mins, stirring once or twice. Pour in the Cognac and bubble up, scraping the pan to deglaze, for 2-3 mins. Then pour in all the wine and bring to the boil.
• Tip in the chicken joints; press into the pan so they are immersed in liquid and cook, uncovered, for 10 mins, until the wine has reduced by half. Pour in the stock, return to a simmer, season and cook, uncovered, for 1 hr until the liquid has reduced by half and the chicken is tender. Set aside for 10 mins before serving.
• Heat another 4 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and, when hot, fry the mushrooms for about 8 mins, seasoning well and stirring frequently until nicely browned. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Serve the chicken in bowls with vegetables and sauce spooned over, and top with the mushrooms.

COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Season chicken with 2 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a large bowl, combine chicken, wine, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or, even better, overnight.
• In a large Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, cook lardons over medium-low heat until fat has rendered, and lardons are golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer lardons to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in pot.
• Remove chicken from wine, reserving the marinade. Pat chicken pieces with paper towels until very dry. Heat lardon fat over medium heat until it's just about to smoke. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken in a single layer and cook until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. (Add oil if the pot looks a little dry.) Transfer chicken to a plate as it browns.
• Add diced onion, carrot, half the mushrooms and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to pot. Cook until vegetables are lightly browned, about 8 minutes, stirring up any brown bits from the pot, and adjusting heat if necessary to prevent burning.
• Stir in garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then stir in flour and cook for another minute. Remove from heat, push vegetables to one side of pot, pour brandy into empty side, and ignite with a match. (If you're too nervous to ignite it, just cook brandy down for 1 minute.) Once the flame dies down, add reserved marinade, bring to a boil, and reduce halfway (to 1 1/2 cups), about 12 minutes. Skim off any large pockets of foam that form on the surface.
• Add chicken, any accumulated juices and half the cooked lardons to the pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, turning halfway through. Uncover pot and simmer for 15 minutes to thicken. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick or other large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pearl onions, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, shaking skillet often to move onions around. Uncover, push onions to one side of skillet, add remaining mushrooms, and raise heat to medium-high. Continue to cook until browned, stirring mushrooms frequently, and gently tossing onions occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove onions and mushrooms from skillet, and wipe it out.
• In same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until bubbling. Add bread and toast on all sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side. (Adjust heat if needed to prevent burning.) Remove from skillet and sprinkle with salt.
• To serve, dip croutons in wine sauce, then coat in parsley. Add pearl onions, mushrooms and remaining half of the cooked lardons to the pot. Baste with wine sauce, sprinkle with parsley and serve with croutons on top.