France · French cuisine of Burgundy
Coq au vin
Chicken marinated in Burgundy red wine and simmered slowly with smoky lardons, glazed pearl onions and golden mushrooms until the sauce is deep, glossy and rich.
Cookhuddle Editorial Cookhuddle | France
Editorial selection: recipes cross-checked against several documentary sources. They have not been tested in our kitchen: follow the precautions given and adapt times to your own oven.
Photo: Will Clayton from Blackburn, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Source · cropped
translation Translated from French. Translation by Cookhuddle Editorial. Read the original
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- Servings
- 6
- Preparation
- 40 min
- Cooking
- 100 min
- Resting
- 720 min
- Total
- About 860 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
Cuisine / tradition: French cuisine of Burgundy (FR) — declared by the author
- Main dish
- Braised
- Celebration
Ingredients
For 6 servings
- 2 kg free-range chicken or capon, cut into 8 pieces
- 750 ml robust red Burgundy wine
- 2 piece carrots, sliced, for the marinade
- 1 piece large onion, sliced, for the marinade
- 2 clove garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 piece bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf)
- 4 piece juniper berries
- 2 piece cloves
- 10 piece black peppercorns
- 200 g smoked pork belly, in lardons
- 250 g button mushrooms, halved
- 12 piece pearl onions, peeled
- 50 g butter, divided
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 50 ml marc de Bourgogne or cognac
- 200 ml veal or chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Method
- Step 1. The day before: put the chicken pieces in a large bowl with the carrots, onion, garlic, bouquet garni, juniper, cloves, peppercorns and the wine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
- Step 2. Drain the chicken and pat it very dry. Strain the marinade, keeping the wine, and set the vegetables aside.
- Step 3. In a large cast-iron casserole, melt 20 g of butter with the oil and brown the lardons for 5 minutes. Set them aside. Brown the chicken in batches, about 5 minutes per side, seasoning with the salt and pepper. Set aside.⏱ 5 min
- Step 4. Cook the marinade vegetables in the casserole for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and stir for 1 minute. Pour in the marc, step back and, if you wish, flambé it, then let the flames die down.⏱ 5 min
- Step 5. Return the chicken and lardons. Add the strained wine and the stock, bring to the boil scraping the bottom of the casserole, then cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Check with a food thermometer: the thickest piece of chicken must reach at least 74 °C (165 °F) at the centre, without touching the bone. If it has not reached that temperature, keep cooking and check again.⏱ 75 min
- Step 6. Meanwhile, brown the pearl onions in 15 g of butter for 12 minutes, shaking the pan, until golden and tender. Sauté the mushrooms in the remaining 15 g of butter for 6 minutes.⏱ 12 min
- Step 7. Lift the chicken from the casserole. Reduce the sauce over high heat for 10 minutes until it coats a spoon. Return the chicken, add the onions and mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.⏱ 10 min
- Step 8. Serve in the casserole with steamed or mashed potatoes, fresh tagliatelle or garlic croutons, and plenty of bread for the sauce.
Story and cultural note
Coq au vin is traditionally a way of cooking less-than-tender poultry, like bœuf bourguignon, in red wine. It is associated with Burgundy and its red wine, but other regions use their own: coq au vin jaune in the Jura and coq au Riesling in Alsace. Sources differ on the details: a marinade of at least 12 hours, a flambé with cognac or marc de Bourgogne, and a tough rooster simmered for 2 to 3 hours against about an hour for a capon or free-range chicken, as in this version.
Tips for success
Marinate overnight and dry the chicken thoroughly so that it browns. Flambé away from the extractor and with the lid at hand. Simmer very gently: a boil would make the meat stringy. Reduce the sauce at the end until it coats a spoon. An old rooster needs 2 to 3 hours instead of the 1 hour 15 minutes given here for a capon or free-range chicken.
Serving and presentation
Serve in the casserole with steamed or mashed potatoes, fresh tagliatelle or garlic croutons, and a scattering of fresh thyme. Bring bread to the table for the sauce.
Diet and allergens
Information declared by the author. CookHuddle does not verify or certify it. If you have an allergy, check the ingredients yourself.
ContainsGluten (cereals)MilkSulphites
May contain traces ofCelery
