Coq au vin

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 2 carrots
• 2 2 shallots
• 3 1 Bouquet garni
• 4 750 g chicken breast
• 5 750 ml red wine
• 6 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 7 ½ glass Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac)
• 8 3 tablespoons flour
• 9 300 g mushrooms
• 10 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 11 salt
• 12 pepper
• Total weight: 2,440 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
12 hours 32 min.	2 hours 12 min.	14 hours 44 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1:

  Prepare the marinade

  Prepare 2 carrots and slice thinly. Prepare 2 shallots and slice these thinly, too.
  Put the carrots and shallots into a bowl, salt and pepper, then add 1 Bouquet garni.
• 2: Add 750 g chicken breast, pour 750 ml red wine over, cover with a plate and leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
• 3:

  First-stage cooking of meat

  Next day, drain the chicken breasts and dry on absorbant paper.
• 4: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan and fry the chicken breasts until browned all over. Do be aware, this is not to cook the chicken, just to give it a little colour. Set aside.
• 5:

  Cook the vegetables

  Drain the vegetables and discard the bouquet garni.
• 6: Put the vegetables into the same pan in what is left of the oil (add a little more if necessary) and cook for one or two minutes,.
• 7: Return the chicken to the pan and heat everything on high heat.
  Pour in ½ glass Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac) all at once...
• 8: ...and set light to the cognac (flambé).
• 9: Once the flames are out, sprinkle 3 tablespoons flour over and mix in.
• 10: Pour in the wine from the marinade, salt and pepper, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer gently.
• 11:

  Prepare the mushrooms

  Meanwhile, peel 300 g mushrooms and cut into small pieces.
• 12: Fry rapidly in the pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil...
• 13: ...then add to the simmering pan.
• 14:

  Second-stage cooking of meat

  After cooking slowly for 2 hours, the wine will have reduced to give the coq au vin its delicious sauce.
  Check the seasoning.
• 15: Serve the coq au vin with your preferred accompaniment, such as the sautéed potatoes shown here.

Remarks

If you want to make the real thing, use a whole cock (or rooster, for Americans) instead of the chicken breasts and ask your butcher to cut it into portions for you.

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