Sunday, January 30, 2011

red and me




Little Red and I have been slow-cooking up a wintery storm. There's nothing as inviting on a snow-laden afternoon, as the aromatics of a pot simmering in an all-day oven. This is another rustic recipe from my I Know How to Cook, by Ginette Mathiot, and my personal favorite, so far.  The succulent wine sauce was out of this world and the chicken literally fell off the bone.  Mathiot's version required making a portion of it the day before, refrigerating overnight and finishing the next day.  Forget the "next day" business.  Here's my slightly modified version:

Coq Au Vin


3 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup butter scant
3 1/2 pound capon or chicken, cut into pieces
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup cognac
generous 2 cups of red wine
salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 1/2 oz. button mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
3 1/2 oz. bacon, diced

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy pan (I used my trusty Hoosier cast iron skillet, a Howard County, Indiana legacy, inherited from my dear aunt). Add the chicken pieces and cook over medium high heat until browned on all sides. In a separate pan, while the chicken is browning, cook the bacon and onion. Remove chicken from pan. Sprinkle in flour and continue to cook, stirring. Remove from heat, pour in cognac and simmer to evaporate. Pour in wine, season with salt and pepper and add garlic. Place chicken pieces, bacon, onions and mushrooms in a Dutch oven. Pour pan sauce over and bake covered for two hours at 300 degrees.

45 comments:

  1. OMG! I will be making this right away. I like your streamlined version. The picture is awesome. You are becoming a true food stylist! That picture could be on the cover of a gourmet food magazine.

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  2. Shouldn't this be called 'Little Red Rooster'?

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  3. Thanks, Shari, let me know how you like it!


    Cro, maybe Little Red Hen?

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  4. "Ain't no peace in the barn yard
    Since my little red rooster been gone."

    And I do love an extra-terrestrial wine sauce ;-)

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  5. With Cognac? Oh, man, that does sound good. I will have to try this. I used to make french onion soup with day-old french bread I'd make, and I put Remy Martin into that, and it was to die for. This sounds delicious. Little Red is serving you well.

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  6. tess - i read the words "succulent wine sauce" and i feel weak kneed. a trembling takes over my entire body. steven

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  7. Dear Willow, For something looking, and, no doubt, tasting this good I shall venture into the kitchen!!
    I shall call it Rhode Island Red after a marvellous cook I knew who kept special breed chicken!

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  8. I wish I could smell it cooking. I imagine it was delicious. I'm hungry.

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  9. Perfect day for making this here Tess...I'm off to the store for ingredients as we speak...thanks!

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  10. Tess...help me out with the cast iron skillet. I have one that I never use...just can't get over the bit about not being able to wash it. Help!

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  11. Jacqueline, you can hand wash it, just don't use any soap. Quickly dry it and whisk a bit of oil on the surface now and then.

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  12. Can't wait to try this! Thanks

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  13. This is one I definitely will make.

    Just before our heat-wave started, i brazed a pork fillet with onions and deglazed the pan with lightly sweetened and even more lightly fermented raspberry juice. Cooked it for ever so long and added a little more juice each time it had evaporated. Not just the pork, but the gravy was to die for.

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  14. goodness willow...this looks marvelous....sending this one to T right now...

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  15. Looks great! This is making me verdi verdi hungry :)
    Unks

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  16. mmm looks good!! I think I need to invest in a crock pot!

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  17. Enticements such as this make me wish that I was sharing 'Life at Willow Manor' literally ... even for a day!

    Another of your recipes to add to my own. By the way, I made your cornbread the other day. It was divine!

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  18. god this looks good!... you know I can't resist a chicken recipe and believe it or not but i've never made coq au vin before and this one is a great recipe... its going directly into my 'must bake' file... thanks x

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  19. Little red sure knows how to break down tissue while putting a sheen to the rooster. Use to work for a lady cook in California who was the least "chef" like cook I knew. She always talked about prep as putting the right amount of loving in to the dish before it went in the oven. I say you know how to drive that little red pot! Let's eat!

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  20. I haven't made Coq Au Vin for years. You've inspired me. The boys will be so pleased. This is much less complicated than the recipe that I remember.

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  21. Would this work with pheasant too? I have a couple in the freezer that I have no idea what to do with

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  22. Oh, wow, this sorely tempts me. I'm going to make chicken Saltimbocca and Fettucini Alfredo for dinner today but I had to print this recipe out for a later meal. Yummmmm!

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  23. Yum! I haven't had this in a long time. the photo has me drooling!

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  24. Mmmm! This was one of my mother's standards and it's been too long since I made it.

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  25. I must say it really looks delicious.

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  26. Oh my Willow...that looks incredibly delicious!

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  27. looks delicious....I have forgotten all about making coq a' vin. Thanks for the reminder and I will try your adaptation soon. We had stuffed pork chops tonite and roasted cauliflow medley/

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  28. Looks fab Willow, but it will have to wait a couple of months before I give it a run here @ The Hedge. 'Cos it's a sizzling 108F. here in the Adelaide Hills today & it's cold cuts & salad for dinner accompanied by the gentle hum of the air-conditioner.
    Millie x

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  29. I made something very similar last week using half a bottle of white wine I had left. As you say - the slow cooking made it divine.

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  30. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe and for the pictures of the finished product. I will forward this to my daughter too.

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  31. Nice! And, I have a red pot of my own, so I will have to try this.

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  32. If this tastes a tenth as good as it looks it will be scrumptious. I'm actually tempted to go out right now and get the ingredients to make it for tonight's supper, especially as I just bought some poultry shears which I'm desperate to try out!

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  33. Eryl, I picked up some lemons and polenta to give your luscious cake a whirl. Can't wait!

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  34. Winston, Little Red and I are layin' the rubber, Baby!

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  35. I am SO doing this. Can you buy cognac in small amounts? It's not something I drink (however red wine is another story...) so I'd like to buy just enough for the recipe.

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  36. ohh wow... this looks so delicious :D
    thanks for the recipe.

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  37. Marcheline, I would maybe substitute brandy, if you didn't want to invest in a whole bottle of cognac.

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  38. You are definitely the leader of the band. I got the red pot, and a chicken, so far so good. Of course I will have to wait until tomorrow to get the bacon. But I'm gonna' try to make that chicken!

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  39. Little Red and you have been busy. I'm shopping for these ingredients today!

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  40. This looks too delish and actually easy to make as well. Copied and saved to my recipe file now.

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  41. you and little red are a match made in heaven. this looks divine.

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  42. Oh my God, this looks divine! I'm going to try that recipe this week. Thank you! Looks like I'm not the only one who loves this incredible picture of the chicken--I can taste it now. And I was going to try to go vegan!!

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  43. Your house must have smelled divine all weekend!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)