Rock out with your Coq out: Coq au Vin

Culinary school wouldn't be complete without having to learn and cook the classics, and today, that classic is Coq au Vin, or Cock in Wine. If you're done giggling, Coq au Vin has been rumoured to be as old as Julius Caesar, but it's been officially documented as far back as the 20th century. When Julia Child featured the recipe in her 1961 cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, it gained popularity in USA and quickly became one of her signature dishes.

Coq au Vin is traditionally made with a cock, or rooster, since it's a tougher bird that benefits from braising, but these days it's often made of regular chicken. Other main ingredients include bacon lardons, red wine, mushrooms, onions and garlic. It can also be flavoured with thyme and brandy or cognac. The sauce is typically thickened with a roux, although some chefs have been known to use blood as a coagulating agent.

What you'll need:

• 100 g bacon lardons
• 1 whole chicken, parted, or precut pieces
• 200 g carrots, cut diagonally
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 50 ml cognac or brandy
• 375 ml dry red wine (Burgundy for example)
• 240 ml chicken stock
• 10 thyme stalks (appx. 2 tablespoons)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
• 1.5 tbsp flour
• 225 g pearl onions
• 225 g mushrooms
  
• lemon juice

What to do

Heat the oven to 160°C/320­°F. Joint your chicken if you've purchased a whole bird. You can learn to part chicken from Gordon Ramsay's video here. For the most flavourful, juicy results, leave the breasts on the bone and take them out after cooking or just eat off the bone.  Remember that anything you trim off your bird can be used in a homemade stock. Read about how to make your own stocks here. 

In a braising pot or dutch oven, heat a tablespoon of oil and brown your bacon. Take the bacon out and carefully add your chicken to be browned well on all sides. Take chicken out of pot and add onions and carrots. Brown. Add cognac, bacon and chicken back to the pot and let the cognac bubble down a few minutes. Add wine, stock and thyme and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on the pot and put it into the oven for 30-40 minutes.

In a small bowl, add 1 tbsp of butter and 1.5 tbsp flour. Stir well. Take your pot from the oven, carefully stir in flour and butter, then set back into the oven. Peel pearl onions, rinse and quarter your mushrooms then brown them in a saute pan with a bit of butter or oil. Add mushrooms and pearl onions to the pot and simmer until tender. 

If your sauce is a bit runny, take the chicken out and add more flour and butter mix (which is called beurre manier if you're wondering). Make sure it comes to a boil, else the sauce could taste of flour and it won't thicken as much. Season your sauce with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Serve this delightful stew with a buttery mashed potato and some crusty bread on the side for sopping up all that tasty goodness. This recipe can be time consuming, but you'll certainly impress friends and family (or your own sassy self) by mastering this traditional French dish.

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