Coq Au Vin

Chicken in Red Wine

Coq au Vin - it sounds a bit fancy schmancy, but everything sounds fancy in French. It is really just chicken braised low and slow in wine. A winey chicken stew. Classic old-school Coq au Vin recipes might include all parts of the chicken, a rooster actually, including the feet and the blood for thickening. It might call for marinating the fowl overnight in red wine, perhaps add a touch of cognac or brandy along the way. Feet and blood?! no thanks. Welcome to 2017 and a modified, simplified version of Coq au Vin... much simpler. 

Winter weather tends to focus my food cravings on warming comfort food. A light dusting of snow highlighted the yard this morning and the forecast calls for a near-term cooling trend. Brrrr, it's getting downright chilly in Western Washington. Bring on the comfort food! Coq au Vin was today's choice, easy to prepare after a leisurely breakfast and ready to enjoy before the 1:25 kickoff in today's football game. Reheated later tonight or tomorrow, the flavors will further mellow and this dish will taste even better. 

Why specify chicken thighs? It is so easy to overcook chicken breasts, resulting in a dry, leathery, barely edible toughness. Chicken thighs are a better choice for braising since they are more flavorful, more tender, and stay moist longer than chicken breasts. 
  

Nonetheless it is important to use a low heat setting to ensure a barely simmering liquid. The lowest setting on my electric cooktop adds too much heat, requiring two metal 'flame-tamers' (heat diffusers) to raise the pot above the element coils.    

Coq au Vin offers moist and succulent chicken thighs, the savory umami of bacon, the texture of flavorful meaty mushrooms, and a savory spicy wine sauce. Mmmmmmm, what's not to like?

Coq Au Vin

serves 2+

4 to 6 large chicken thighs (preferably not skinless, boneless)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour, for dusting
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 cups hearty red wine (Pinot Noir, Merlot etc.)
2 carrots, cut in large chunks 
1 large yellow onion, cut in large pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 large bay leaf
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock or broth

1 cup thick, meaty bacon, cut crosswise into strips
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, halved or quartered
2 green onions, chopped
Finishing salt (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper; dust each thigh completely with flour and shake off excess. Brown the chicken on each side until golden brown, about 10 minutes; remove from the pan and set aside.

Deglaze the pot with 1 cup of the wine, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Add the carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf; stir in the tomato paste, chicken stock and the remaining wine. Return the browned chicken to the liquid in the pot; cover and gently simmer over low heat for 1 hour, turning once or twice.

While the chicken simmers, use a second large skillet and cook the bacon until golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, reserving the fat. Add the mushroom halves to the fat in the pan and cook until browned; season well with salt and pepper. Add a bit more olive oil (or butter, if you prefer) to the pan if needed. 

Lift the chicken out of the liquid and set aside. Strain the solids out of the braising liquid and discard those spent vegetables. Simmer the sauce until reduced and thickened to a sauce-like consistency.* Return the chicken to the pan to reheat. Taste and adjust sauce seasonings. 

Add the crispy bacon strips, cooked mushrooms and chopped green onions back into the pot with the chicken.

Arrange the chicken on a platter and spoon the sauce over the top, or serve in shallow bowls for individual servings. Sprinkle sparingly with a finishing salt (optional) Serve as a stew with crusty French bread, or over egg noodles or potatoes. 

Notes:
*If the sauce is too thin after reducing for 15 to 20 minutes, rub equal quantities of flour and butter together with your fingers and add to the pot, one tablespoon at a time, then continue cooking. 
*If there isn't enough liquid before reducing, add more chicken stock to the pan and carry on.

Holiday Glogg - hot mulled wine

Brrrrrr, baby it's cold outside! Well, it is winter, the festive holiday season, and temperatures have dropped. Snow is predicted over the weekend and skiers are ecstatic. But who needs an excuse to enjoy mug after mug of Glogg (hot mulled wine)? It can be served hot or cold, though the warm version is traditional, a celebratory beverage to warm both body and soul. Glogg smells divine and tastes even better; a potent, comforting drink that can deliver a kick... or more likely make me sleepy after several mugfuls. 

Whether you call it Nordic Glogg, German Gluhwein, Canadian Caribou, UK Wassail, or hot wine in a variety of languages, you will find recipes for mulled wine vary greatly, even within cultures. Typically the main ingredients include red wine, sugar, spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves plus citrus and occasionally brandy. Potent, indeed.

Photo: Batch 1 Glogg ingredients

Photo: Batch 2 Glogg ingredients

No time to create your own mixture? Retailers can supply premixed mulling spice blends, Glogg concentrate or even bottles of already prepared Glogg. Myself, I'll go with easy-to-prepare homemade Holiday Glogg  and serve it in honor of the New Year, and to salute the memory of a wonderful holiday visit in snowy Central Oregon earlier this week. 

Try this tasty beverage, perhaps play around with the spice mix ingredients to create your own flavor blend. Here's the recipe from my latest batch of Holiday Glogg. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Holiday Glogg

1 bottle red wine (or hard apple cider)
10 green cardamom pods, crushed (not ground)
1/2 cup raisins 
2 dried apricots 
5 blanched almonds
2 star anise
5 whole cloves (not ground)
5 pieces crystallized ginger (not ground)
1 whole nutmeg, grated or cracked
10 whole peppercorns
1 long cinnamon stick (not ground)
1 small bay leaf
zest and fruit of an orange, cut in rounds

4-8 sugar cubes
Garnish: 1 additional orange and 4 cinnamon sticks
(use 1 cinnamon stick and a citrus twist or wedge per serving)

1. Simmer all ingredients except sugar cubes and garnish, covered, in a nonreactive saucepan for 30 minutes. Be careful not to boil the mix.
2. Strain to remove the solids. (You might want to keep the nuts and fruit to use in baked goods.) Cool and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
3. To serve, reheat the mixture over low heat (do not boil!). Serve Glogg in a warmed glass over a sugar cube or two. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and an orange slice or twist. 

Options to consider:

* Add 1/4 cup rum, brandy and/or port to the heated mixture after straining.
* Make a double batch to enjoy some immediately and bottle the rest to serve later in the season. It mellows and blends the flavors, improving with age. Refrigerate to hold.

Beef Bourguignon , aka Beef Stew

We woke up to a hint of snow, a skim coat of flakes barely thick enough to frost the decks, bushes and lawn but not sufficient to blanket the landscape. This wasn't the snow event predicted by TV forecasters, not a real snow like the storms hitting the central and eastern states. No, this sprinkle of snow was just a reminder of things to come.

After several days of winds and hard rain this was a welcome weather change! By afternoon the clouds cleared, the sun came out and the temperature dropped into the mid-to-high twenties. Brrrr, time to layer on some sweaters and get busy in the kitchen with some comfort food cooking... easy-prep comfort food... beef stew kind of comfort food.

Friends are coming by tomorrow for a late lunch and a round of Mexican Train. I mentally skimmed the list of our favorite cold-weather soups, chilies, gumbos and the like, searching for something that would be a delicious but casual kitchen meal, a no-fuss menu to fit a flexible schedule. Richly flavorful Beef Bourguignon sounded like a winner; a dish that actually improves in flavor if prepared a day ahead. It helped that I had all of the ingredients in stock and didn't have to go out and play with the post-Thanksgiving crowds of shoppers still clogging the shopping center parking lots. 

The rest of the menu will be simple since stew is such a substantial main dish. I'm thinking hot spiced cider and deviled eggs for a warm-up nibble as people arrive, colorful marinated grape tomatoes and mozzarella balls as a salad...

...tiny red potatoes to add to the stew, some crusty French bread to soak up every last drop of that wonderful gravy...

 ...and an apple galette for dessert as we take a break midway through the game. (not pictured: RL added a towering pile of whipped cream to each slice, and no one protested.)

That's my menu, what do you serve with your beef stew?   

Beef Bourguinon

based on a favorite recipe found in Tyler Florence's cookbook, Real Kitchen.

Yields 3 quarts, about 8 servings

1 Tbs Canola oil
2 slices bacon (not maple flavored)
4 lbs chuck roast, dried with paper towels, fat trimmed & cut into large, bite-size cubes
Salt & freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brandy (or port or marsala, etc.)
1 bottle hearty red wine (Pinot Noir, Merlot, Burgundy, etc)
1 can (14.5 oz) low-sodium beef broth
2 generous Tbs tomato paste (from a tube)
cheesecloth bag with 4" sprig rosemary, 6 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, chopped (or Gourmet Garden chunky garlic in a tube) 
2 cups pearl onions, blanched & peeled (or 1 bag frozen) 
1 pint white mushrooms, stems trimmed, large 'shrooms halved (or add some reconstituted, dried 'shrooms)
Pinch of sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter (optional)
Gremolata garnish of freshly minced flat-leaf parsley and the zest of 1 lemon

Add the oil to a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the bacon strips and cook until crisp; remove to a paper towel and hold until ready to serve. Pat the beef dry again with paper towels, then add to the pot to brown in several batches. Sear the beef cubes on all sides in the bacon drippings, letting each side sit undisturbed until browned. Remove to a bowl and season each batch with salt and pepper.

Return all of the browned meat and their juices to the pot. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and stir to completely coat each cube until all of the flour is incorporated. Add the brandy and stir; loosen all of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan (there's a lot of flavor lurking there). Cook and stir to evaporate the alcohol. Add the red wine and beef broth; stir in the tomato paste; add the cheesecloth bag of herbs. Bring to a simmer and cook until the liquid begins to thicken and develops a sauce like consistency, about 12-15 minutes. Cover the pot and simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Use a flame tamer/heat diffuser if needed to keep the pot at a low simmer instead of a hearty boil.

Uncover the pot; add the garlic, onions, mushrooms and the pinch of sugar. (The sugar will balance the acidity of the red wine.) Taste; season with salt and pepper as needed. Raise the heat slightly and simmer for another 40 minutes, or until the vegetables and the meat are tender. Remove the cheesecloth packet of herbs; stir in the butter to add a glossy finish to the sauce (optional). Sprinkle with the gremolata (minced parsley and lemon zest) and crumbled, reserved bacon just before serving.

Accompany with whole or mashed potatoes or buttered noodles, crusty bread or soft biscuits, You won't want to waste any of the delicious gravy!

Note: if you prepare the stew a day ahead, hold it in the fridge overnight and skim of the solidified grease before reheating and adding the finish of butter and gremolata.