Cooking with wine: Coq-Au-Vin recipe.
Ph: I-Hua Lim. www.msihua.com
There's a wise saying that says, "you only need four things in life - family, friends, great food and great wine"....ok, so we just made that up...but doesn't it just ring true?! Today we're featuring a classic dish that is cooked with great wine, and is the perfect meal to share with friends and family: Coq Au Vin!
One of the most well known of French cuisine dishes, the classic Coq Au Vin recipe - which easily translates into "chicken in wine" (but sounds oh-so much fancier in French) is a sort of rustic country recipe given a sophisticated twist. The ingredients are farm basics - chicken and fresh vegetables. But it's that robust flavor of a fine red wine that gives this dish that sensual, luxurious touch.
COQ AU VIN RECIPE ESSENTIALS: THYME, WINE AND TIME
There are several steps to a Coq Au Vin recipe, and a most important ingredient: patience. Although the dish is called simply Chicken in Wine, it should really be called SLOW-Cooked chicken in wine...you'll need wine and time! This recipe needs long cooking times, because the idea is to break down the meat until it's superbly tender, with nary a hint of toughness, and for the flavors of the vegetables, wine and aromatics to fully blend in together so that every bite is bursting with flavor.
SLOW FOOD, SLOW COOKER!
Since this is one of those "classic French cuisine" dishes, you'll find tons of results out there for Coq Au Vin recipe. However, the recipe we're featuring this week was a standout. Slow Cooked Coq Au Vin by I-Hua, from The Chronicles of Ms. I-Hua & The Boy, an amazing cooking blog from beautiful Australia. Find more fun and delicious recipes by I-Hua at www.msihua.com.
This Coq Au Vin recipe might be "slow cooked" but it's definitely not time consuming. I-Hua's trick is using a slow cooker for the job, maintaining all the beauty of this traditional recipe but using the modern time-saving device to avoid slaving over the stove. The result is an amazingly tender chicken, incredibly flavorful, perfect to feed a crowd of hungry and exacting foodies!
COQ AU VINE RECIPE AND WINE TIP
A Coq Au Vin recipe usually calls for Burgundy wine (the region where this dish originates), but this rule is not set in stone - you can use Beaujolais (which is the wine of choice for our feature recipe), or any other full-bodied red. It doesn't even have to be French...but to be truly authentic, it should be!