Chicken in Red Wine.
French comfort food.
It’s not a difficult recipe, although there are a lot of steps.
A proper Coq au Vin is well worth the effort – plus it can be partially made ahead and finished just before serving.
Relax, turn on some music, and enjoy the process….
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PrintCoq au Vin
I used 4 chicken thighs and 2 breasts to serve 4 people (or 2 for 2 meals). Use a whole cut-up chicken or your favorite pieces.
The cocoa is the secret ingredient in this French classic. And use a decent, drinkable red wine.
We like this with Mashed Potatoes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Marinate: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Braise
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs (14oz, 420gr total) skinless
- 2 chicken breasts (12oz, 360gr total) boneless, skinless
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed
- 1 bouquet garni – or 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp parsley
- 1 bottle (25oz, 750ml) red wine
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp granular or paste chicken base, optional
- pinch of nutmeg
- 3 slices bacon, chopped
- 4oz (120gr) mushrooms, trimmed, small left whole, large cut in half or quarters
- 6 – 8 shallots, small left whole, large cut in half lengthwise
- 1 tbs pure cocoa
- 2 tbs cornstarch (corn flour, maizena) dissolved in 3 tbs water (you may not use it all)
Instructions
- To marinate:
- Put the chicken, onion, carrot, garlic, and bouquet garni in a deep bowl.
- Pour wine over and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
- To cook:
- Remove chicken from marinade and drain well, reserving marinade.
- Heat oil in heavy, deep pot over medium-high heat.
- Brown chicken on all sides, a few pieces at time, about 10 minutes.
- Return all chicken to pan and pour over reserved marinade and vegetables.
- Add nutmeg and chicken base (if using).
- Cover, bring to a simmer, reduce heat and simmer for an hour.
- Vegetables:
- In medium skillet sauté bacon until crisp.
- Add shallots to pan with 2 tbs water, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Uncover and cook off liquid.
- Add mushrooms to skillet and sauté over medium heat until both are nicely browned on all sides about 15 minutes.
- When done, cover until time to add to chicken.
- To finish:
- Remove chicken from pan and cover to keep warm.
- Strain sauce, discarding solids.
- Return sauce to pan removing 1/2 cup.
- Bring sauce to a boil over medium heat.
- Put cocoa into a small bowl.
- Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup reserved sauce.
- Slowly whisk cocoa mixture into simmering sauce.
- Continue whisking until it returns to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to reduce slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Dissolve cornstarch in water.
- Use to thicken sauce to desired consistency if needed.
- Return chicken to pan along with mushrooms, shallots and bacon.
- Allow to heat through over low heat, 10 – 15 minutes.
- Arrange chicken, mushrooms and shallots on a small platter.
- Spoon some sauce over and serve the rest on the side.
Notes
The traditional dish calls for pearl onions – I prefer shallots because they’re easier to peel and I like the flavor.
The cocoa will thicken the sauce slightly. Only use as much of the cornstarch mixture as you like.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 recipe
- Calories: 656
- Sugar: 5.3 g
- Sodium: 356.9 mg
- Fat: 24.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.2 g
- Trans Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 53.8 g
- Cholesterol: 216.2 mg
Not a fan of red wine? Braised Chicken & Rice made with white wine….
I have been making Coq au Vin for years. But it wasn’t until I had it in a Paris bistro that I realized there was something missing from my recipe… Although the cookbook assured me it was authentic.
The dish we had at Chez René glistened. It was so dark it was almost black; so intensely flavorful it defied description.
The quest was on. The first conclusion was that the sauce must be based on one of those slow reductions only Michelin chefs with staff do. The kind that reduces 5 quarts of flavorful beef stock down to a teaspoon then thickens with butter.
That wasn’t is. The only liquid in Coq au Vin is the Vin.
Then I ran across a recipe in ‘Saveur Cooks Authentic French’ that called for cocoa powder. Could this be the secret ingredient?
Bien sûr !
Also, use a decent wine… It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be drinkable. A cheap bottle of plonk won’t give the flavor. Absolutely do not use ‘cooking wine’ (shudder).
I will probably never make this but can almost smell yours from here in Australia
The scent is pretty fantastic!
I have never used cocoa in mine. I’m actually not a fan of cocoa in things savory. But! That said, I am a huge fan of Coq-qu-Vin, and yes, I use a really good red wine any time I use it in cooking, so I’ll try this and see if we like it. And I do agree with you on the pearl onions. I can buy them frozen, but I think the fresh taste so much better. I just don’t have the patience for the tedium of peeling them though when desperate, I’ve cut off the top and bottom and put them in two stainless bowls and shook them to get rid of the peels. It’s rather effective. I like the flavor of the shallots better too though.
Husband is out on the quad right now, doing the 6-7 inches of snow we’ve had since yesterday around 2. I’m not sure why, it’s still snowing like mad out there and the wind is blowing around 30mph with gusts up to 55mph. But he insists he do it now and again in a couple hours. Not like the quad won’t move twice this much, but he likes to play so…
Shallots are so much easier – and better. Cocoa really intensifies the flavor but there is no hint of chocolate. I was surprised the first time I used it. I absolutely do not miss anything about snow…. I can look at photos to see the pretty….
And nothing like ‘lake effects’ around here