In fact, her recipe is really very basic, focusing the layers of flavor on chicken, mushrooms, sweet onions and the red wine sauce. Julia does not include carrots or celery. Butter: Use good real butter! The secret to the lush texture of the wine sauce is a paste of flour and softened butter ( beurre manié).Flour: I use all-purpose wheat flour to thicken the sauce, but oat flour or rice flour will do for a gluten-free option.
Herbs: Fresh thyme and a dried bay leaf are all you need for cooking, plus a garnish of fresh parsley.Red wine: You want a nice full-bodied red wine that’s good enough to pour into a glass and drink.Luckily, shallots do the job equally well. Baby onions or shallots: It can be difficult to track down “baby” (pearl onions) in markets.Brown mushrooms: Cremini mushrooms add a rustic touch, but white button mushrooms are fine too.Pancetta or bacon: Either one is delicious, just be sure to use an unsmoked bacon so it doesn’t overwhelm the other ingredients.However, you can use all chicken thighs, legs or breasts if you prefer a particular part. Chicken: A whole cut-up chicken is traditional in coq au vin.Save this recipe to make on a weekend or on a day when you have a bit more time than half an hour to make dinner at home. While coq au vin is not at all hard to make, it does involve a few steps and takes about an hour to cook.
It’s a humble kind of dish for sure, something easy for a home cook to prepare in one pot, or as a meal you’d enjoy in a casual neighborhood bistro. To get technical, it’s a type of fricassee - a cooking preparation that’s part sauté and part braise.Īccording to Julia Child, in France a fricassee is made with either red or white wine, but red is more popular. Pronounced “coke-o-van” or “cocovan”, coq au vin literally means “chicken with wine” in French. While I was testing and perfecting this recipe, I had Julia Child by my side the whole time, in the form of her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. If you have an enameled Dutch oven or a cast iron “everyday pan” this is the ideal way to use it!