Yeah it's Hot - But Think of Winter

So the month of June was like living in Seattle here in the DC area. There was at least one opportunity to wear a sweater, too. Isn't everyone concerned about global warming? While you sip that lemonade and try and stay cool in the dog days of summer, here's a warming, winter recipe to get you thinking about stew season.

Coq au Vin
(from Molly Stevens - All About Braising via the Amateur Gourmet)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound slab bacon (AG used D'Artagnan pancetta), rind removed, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• One 4 1/2 to 5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces, wing tips, back, neck and giblets (except the liver) reserved
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All purpose flour for dredging (about 1/2 a cup)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion (about 8 oz.), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 carrot, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Cognac or other good brandy
• One 750-ml bottle dry, fruity red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup chicken stock
  

The garnish:

• 10 oz. pearl onions (about 24; frozen pearl onions, not thawed, may be substituted)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  

The bacon. Place the diced bacon in a cold, large Dutch oven or other heavy lidded braising pot, set over medium heat, and cook the bacon, stirring often with a slotted spoon, until well browned and crisp on the outside but with some softness inside, 12 to 15 minutes. [AG found my bacon wasn't really rendering, so I added a drop of vegetable oil and that helped it.]

Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Set the pot with the rendered bacon fat aside off the heat.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

3. Rinse the chicken pieces with cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Season on all sides with salt and pepper [be aggressive here]. Spread the flour in a wide shallow dish (a pie plate works well), and dredge half the chicken pieces one at a time, pacing each one in the flour, turning to coat both sides, and then lifting and patting lightly to shake off any excess.

4. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the rendered bacon fat in the pot and place over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, ease in the dredged pieces of chicken, skin side down, without crowding.

Sear on both sides, turning once with tongs, until a deep golden brown crust forms, 7 to 10 minutes total.

[Note: this is the most important step. You MUST get it golden brown for it to taste good. The more golden it is, the more fond is on the bottom of the pan which will add to the sauce later on.]

Transfer the chicken to a large platter; dredge the remaining pieces, discard the flour. Add another tablespoon butter to the pot, sear the remaining chicken. The second batch may brown faster, lower the heat if it begins to burn at all. Transfer the chicken to the platter, pour off the fat from the pot without discarding the tasty browned bits. Return the pot to medium heat.

5. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and melt it over medium heat.

Add the onion and carrot, and toss to coat the vegetables in the butter. Saute, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are beginning to soften and are flecked with brown, about five minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir to smear the paste through the vegetables. Add the Cognac [be careful! don't pour directly from the bottle] and bring to a boil to deglaze, scraping the pot with a wooden spoon to dislodge the precious crust. Simmer, stirring a few times, until the liquid is almost all gone. Raise the heat to high, add the red wine, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and parsley, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-high and simmer rapidly until the wine reduces by about half, about 15 minutes.

Stir in the reserved bacon and the stock and bring to a boil. Using a ladle, scoop out 1/2 cup of braising liquid and set aside for later cooking the pearl onions.

6. Add the chicken pieces to the pot in this order: place the legs, thighs, and wings, and the wing tips, back, neck, heart, and gizzard in the pot first, then put the breast pieces on top of them, skin side down. (Keeping the breast pieces on top protects them from overcooking and drying out.) Pour in any juices that collected as the chicken sat and bring to a simmer.

Cover the chicken with parchment paper, pressing down so that the paper nearly touches the chicken and extends over the sides of the pot by about an inch. Cover with the lid and place on a rack in the lower third of the oven to braise. After 15 minutes, turn the breast pieces over with tongs. At the same time, check that the liquid is simmering quietly. If not, lower the oven temp by 10 or 15 degrees. Continue braising gently for another 45 to 60 minutes, or until the breasts and dark meat are fork tender.

7. Meanwhile, while the chicken braises, cook the garnish. [I used frozen pearl onions for this, so I'm skipping her step for boiling and peeling fresh ones. Frozen work perfect!] Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet (preferably 12-inch nonstick) over medium heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring and shaking, until tinged with brown, 3 to 4 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, add the reserved 1/2 cup of braising liquid, cover and simmer, shaking the pan frequently, until the onions are tender when pierced (3 to 4 minutes, if using frozen; 12 if not). Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium high, and boil to reduce the liquid to a glaze.

Transfer the onions and liquid to a small bowl, scraping the pan with a rubber spatula. Return the pan to a medium-high heat and add the remaining 1.5 tablespoons of butter. When the butter stops foaming, add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute briskly. The mushrooms may release a lot of liquid at first. Continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms develop an attractive chestnut brown sear, about 10 minutes. Remove them from the heat and return the onions and liquid to the skillet. Set aside.

8. Take the chicken out of the oven.

Remove the chicken pieces to a platter, get rid of the giblets if you used them, and cover the chicken to keep it warm. Let the braising liquid settle and then skim off any fat from the top (I didn't see any clear fat, so I just moved on). Place the pot over high heat and bring the juices to a boil. Reduce the juices until thickened to the consistency of a vinaigrette, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Lower the heat, add the onion mushroom garnish, heat through, about 4 minutes.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces, sprinkle with the chopped parsley, and serve.

Bon appetit.