Coq au Vin

 

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breast halves, boneless & skinless, each halved. Salt & pepper generously.
4 or 5 Pieces of thick cut bacon.
1/4 + Pound of small carrots, quartered lengthwise.
1 Medium sweet onion, sliced.
1 Cup chicken broth..
1/4 Cup cognac.
1/2 Bottle of decent red wine.
10 Sprigs of fresh thyme.
4 Cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced..
2 Tbsp butter.
1 1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour
5± Cloves of minced garlic.

Directions:

Halve the slices of bacon and cook in a medium sized cast iron skillet. Set aside.

Place the four pieces of chicken breast in the remaining bacon grease and brown evenly. Remove and place with the bacon.

Add the carrots and onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the onions are becoming lightly browned.

Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Then add the cognac, followed by returning the chicken and bacon to the skillet.

Add the wine, chicken broth, and thyme. Bring all that to a simmer.

Cover the skillet with a tight lid and place in a 250° oven for 40 minutes. Until the chicken is just not pink inside.

As the 40 minutes is about to expire, place 1 Tbsp butter is a small skillet and sautee the mushrooms.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Add 1 Tbsp butter and the flour, then the mushrooms. Stir to mix.

Cook another ten minutes, season to taste, and serve.

4 Servings.

NOTES:

This recipe is taken pretty closely from one created by Ina Garten.

Coq au vin seems to be the French equivalent of Italian chicken cacciatore. It requires more time to prepare than chicken cacciatore, but is no more complicated.

Adding the cognac will create a bubbling deglaze of alcohol. The wine does not have to be expensive. I used a modestly priced bottle of Pinot Noir. You only need half a bottle, so the rest can be consumed with the meal.

Chickens and their breasts seem to be so large now, that one half, in turn halved, will feed two people. I used two in order to match the quantities of other ingredients.

Everyone agreed that the meal was worth waiting for. Do not be put off by the fancy name and some vague memory of Julia Child and challenging French cuisine.