If you haven’t noticed, I’m a huge proponent of classic French and Italian recipes. I think they are called the classics because they never go out of style and they literally involve just about every cooking method you will ever need to know to be successful in the kitchen. This classic coq au vin recipe with mushrooms and pearl onions uses techniques such as marinating, small dicing, roughly chopping, creating a bouquet garni, caramelizing, roasting, pan searing, and braising among a few others. If you can master the classics then you can master your kitchen!
Coq au vin, as well as boeuf bourguignon, is one of those dishes that you can graze upon all day. It’s much like a stew or soup except you have large pieces of protein that make it extremely rich and filling. I like to take little pieces off of the chicken along with tons of carrots and mushrooms and eat like 4 bowls of it throughout the day. Coq au vin is just so good and believe it or not it is incredibly easy to make.
In my recipe, I marinated the chicken because of the exceptional flavors it brings forth into the recipe. I do want to say that you definitely do not have to do this, especially if you have time constraints. Whenever it comes to marinating, you should always do it at least overnight for the best results. However, if you’ve only got 4-6 hours to spare then take what you can get. If you have no time to marinate at all, then using those roasting and caramelizing techniques will be key to your success in this recipe. Since we are cooking chicken in wine, a wine marinade will be just the trick to further enhance this recipe. Coq au vin traditionally uses wine from the Burgundy region in France, and Pinot Noir is by far the most popular red wine in that area, so that’s what I’m going to use.
First you render some bacon fat and then you sear off your protein only to set it to the side and caramelize up your veggies. The Staub Coq Au Vin Dutch Oven is made for this. It’s oval shaped so that you can ensure you are browning every square centimeter of the chicken. You add in your wine and stock and simmer with the chicken for just about 45 minutes or until it is finished. The one thing about this coq au vin is that outside of marinating, this recipe only takes about 90 minutes from start to finish. If you ask me, that’s not too bad for such a classic recipe.
While the chicken and veggies are simmering in the wine and stock, this is a great opportunity to go ahead and roasts off your mushrooms and pearl onions. Be sure to brush off any access dirt or particles from the mushrooms before roasting. Add this goodness into the coq au vin casserole dish mix and serve it up with some fresh thyme and parsley. Go ahead, impress your guests with this one!
Classic Coq Au Vin Recipe with Mushrooms and Pearl Onions
INGREDIENTS
- ½ roughly chopped yellow onion
- 2 roughly chopped stalks of celery
- 2 roughly chopped carrots
- 2 smashed garlic cloves
- 1 whole chicken broken down into drums, thighs and breast parts
- 3 cups of pinot noir
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 8 strips of sliced bacon, chopped
- 8 peeled and sliced carrots
- ½ peeled and small diced yellow onions
- 2 smashed garlic cloves
- ½ to ¾ cup of all-purpose flour
- remaining pinot noir after marinating
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 8-10 each sprigs of parsley and thyme tied together with butcher’s twine
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 pints of button mushrooms
- 1 cup of pearl onions
- thyme and parsley leaves for garnish
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Marinade: Add all of the ingredients to a plastic bag and mix to combine. Close and marinate over night or for at least 4-6 hours.
- After marinating remove the chicken to a side plate and discard the contents in the bag.
- Coq au Vin: Add the bacon to a coq au vin dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook until crispy. Remove the lardons and set aside.
- Add the marinated chicken skin side down into the dutch oven with the rendered bacon fat and sear for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper and turn the chicken over and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and set aside.
- Next, add in the carrots, onions and garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Sprinkle in the flour and mix until combined.
- Pour in the wine and mix and cook until it is reduced by one half. Pour in the chicken stock, add in the parsley, thyme, salt and pepper, and browned chicken. Place on the lid and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking heat a large sauté pan over high heat and add in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Add in the mushrooms and cook until caramelized, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the onions and caramelize those as well, about 4 to 5 more minutes.
- Pour the mushroom and onion mixture into the coq au vin dish and mix until combined.
- Once the chicken is cooked plate up and serve with parsley and thyme leaves.
