The GüdDish Coq au Vin

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Coq au Vin. The GüdDish.

Serves 4–6 · 25–35 min prep · 115–130 min total · Pull at 165°F, then rest 5 min · 3 steps

Ingredients

Ingredients for Coq au Vin
  • 3 lb bone-in chicken pieces
  • 4 oz bacon or lardons
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, cut in chunks
  • 1 bottle dry red wine
  • 2 tbs unsalted butter
  • 2 tbs all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups mushrooms, halved
  • 1 tbs tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup pearl onions
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 tbs fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

What the best recipes taught us

  • Brown the chicken in the bacon fat. Browning the skin is what gives the sauce its flavor.
  • Brown the mushrooms in a separate pan. Browning them first keeps them meaty in the stew.

Method

  1. 1
    Chicken browning in bacon fat in a navy-blue Dutch oven
    3lbsbone-in chicken pieces
    4ozbacon or lardons
    11/2tspkosher salt
    1tspground black pepper

    Pat the chicken dry. Salt and pepper it.

    In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until the fat comes out and the pieces are crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Lift the bacon onto a plate. Brown the chicken in that fat, in batches, until the skin is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes a side. Lift the chicken out onto the plate.

  2. 2
    Chicken simmering in red wine in the Dutch oven, mushrooms browning in a skillet
    1yellow onion, chopped
    2carrots, cut in chunks
    3garlic cloves, minced
    1tbstomato paste
    2tbsall-purpose flour
    1bottle dry red wine
    4 sprigsfresh thyme
    1bay leaf
    2tbsunsalted butter
    3cmushrooms, halved
    1cpearl onions

    Add the chopped onion and the carrot chunks to the pot. Cook until the onion is soft, 6 to 8 minutes.

    Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste 1 minute.

    Sprinkle the flour over the pot. Stir 1 minute.

    Pour the red wine into the pot. Scrape the browned bits. Return the chicken and bacon to the pot. Add the thyme and the bay leaf to the pot. The wine should come most of the way up the pieces.

    Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, not touching bone, reads 165°F, 35 to 45 minutes.

    Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the mushrooms in the butter, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir the mushrooms and pearl onions into the pot for the last 15 minutes of the simmer.

  3. 3
    Finished coq au vin in the same navy Dutch oven with mushrooms and pearl onions
    2tbsfresh parsley

    Fish the herbs out of the pot. Salt to taste. Finish with parsley. Serve hot.