Recipe
Coq au vin
Chicken braised in red wine with smoky lardons, pearl onions and mushrooms - the Burgundian Sunday classic. A deep, glossy sauce over thighs that fall off the bone.
Coq au vin takes about 105 minutes and makes 4 servings. Each serving has 830 kcal.
- Preparation
- 30 minutes
- Cooking
- 75 minutes
- Total time
- 105 minutes
- Servings
- 4
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 830 kcal
- Protein
- 48 g
- Carbohydrates
- 12 g
- Fat
- 55 g
Ingredients
- Chicken thighs8 pcs
- Bacon lardons150 g
- Dry red wine500 ml
- Chicken stock250 ml
- Pearl onions250 g
- Button mushrooms250 g
- Carrot1 pc
- Garlic2 cloves
- Tomato paste1 tbsp
- All-purpose flour2 tbsp
- Butter30 g
- Bay leaf2 pcs
- Thyme and rosemary1 tsp
- Salt1 pinch
- Pepper1 pinch
Instructions
- 1
In a heavy casserole, cook the lardons over medium heat until golden and the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes; lift them out, leaving the fat behind.
- 2
Pat the chicken thighs dry, season them, and brown well in the bacon fat, about 5 minutes per side; set aside.
Tip: Dry skin is everything - moisture steams instead of browning. Leave the thighs alone until they release from the pot by themselves; deep color now is deep flavor later.
- 3
Brown the pearl onions and carrot chunks in the same pot for about 5 minutes.
- 4
Stir in the garlic and tomato paste for one minute, then sprinkle over the flour and stir for one minute more.
- 5
Pour in the wine, scraping up every browned bit from the bottom, then add the stock, bay leaves and thyme.
- 6
Return the chicken and lardons, bring to a gentle simmer, cover and braise on low heat for 45 minutes.
- 7
Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms in butter until golden, about 8 minutes, and stir them into the pot for the last 10 minutes.
- 8
Lift out the chicken and boil the sauce hard for 6–8 minutes, until it turns glossy and coats the back of a spoon.
Tip: Do not skip the reduction - straight from the braise the sauce is thin and boozy. Boil it down until a finger drawn across the coated spoon leaves a clean line.
- 9
Return the chicken to the sauce, check the seasoning and serve with crusty bread or potatoes.
Cooking methods
On the stove
A heavy cast-iron casserole is half the job: medium heat for browning, then the lowest flame that keeps a lazy bubble for the braise. On gas, use a heat diffuser if the pot catches at the bottom.
On induction
Brown on level 7 of 9, then braise on level 2–3 - you want one slow bubble breaking the surface every second or two. Induction holds a low simmer beautifully, so once set, it needs no babysitting until the mushrooms.
Over an open fire
Born for the fire: do the whole dish in a Dutch oven, browning over strong embers, then braising over a thin bed of coals with a few on the lid. Check every 15 minutes that the simmer stays gentle and add embers as they fade.
Recipe questions
- How long does this recipe take?
- Plan for about 105 minutes from start to finish.
- How many servings does this recipe make?
- This recipe makes 4 servings.
- Can I cook this recipe on induction?
- Yes. Brown on level 7 of 9, then braise on level 2–3 - you want one slow bubble breaking the surface every second or two. Induction holds a low simmer beautifully, so once set, it needs no babysitting until the mushrooms.
- Can I cook this recipe over an open fire?
- Yes. Born for the fire: do the whole dish in a Dutch oven, browning over strong embers, then braising over a thin bed of coals with a few on the lid. Check every 15 minutes that the simmer stays gentle and add embers as they fade.
In the app
Cooking the way it should feel
One step on screen, a timer that keeps going, and clear progress until the dish is done.
