This beautiful French classic ‘Coq au Vin’ of braised chicken, bacon and mushroom in red wine stew will warm your heart and soul.
This one is for red wine lovers
Don’t eat Coq au Vin and drive! I’m actually serious and not being facetious for once. Maybe I’m just a lightweight after giving birth, but I could have sworn I felt a little tipsy after having a bowl of this stew.
After simmering this stew for an hour, I thought this was plenty of time to burn off the alcohol from the bottle of red wine and brandy I poured in. Oops, somehow I don’t think all of it gets evaporated! I haven’t felt this buzzed out since I fell pregnant! Thank goodness I opted to serve my 21-month-old toddler, Kai, Spaghetti bolognese that night. Don’t worry, I promise his sauce was booze-free!
Unfortunately for my little Kai, he won’t be eating this sophisticated French stew until he is over 18. This means he’ll miss out on tender braised chicken covered in a gorgeous red wine gravy sauce with bacon and mushrooms. No grown-ups should ever have to miss out on this goodness!
Coq au Vin is best served over creamy mashed potatoes with crusty bread to scoop up the mouthwatering red wine sauce. I guarantee that this meal is going to make anyone smile, and it’s not from the booze… or maybe just a little!
Don’t be a Nara or a Cat!
So when I told Nara (my younger sister that lives with us) I was going to make Coq au Vin, she sighed. “Is that the red wine stew?” she asked, sounding not one bit excited.
Nara hates red wine, but she’ll eat this stew and then ungratefully tell me “It’s okay, but I’ll never order it in a restaurant, it’s not my type of dish” I’ve heard her repeat this so many times, that it makes me want to throw something at her. I tell her she’s basic and to stick with jam on toast which really riles her up. Yes, welcome to our crazy household!
To come to think about it, Nara doesn’t like wine at all. It’s too strong, bitter and probably too sophisticated for her. Yet, she was drinking her first VB when she was 15! VB is our beloved Victoria Bitter beer, that’s classy Nara for you. She has since upgraded her beer preference now, she currently enjoys craft beer and mango flavoured ones!
I shouldn’t talk, I’m not that much classier. During high school days we bought cheap bottles of $3 ‘Passion Pop’ to have at parties as it was filthy cheap! OH WOW, I just quickly Googled Passion pop and I’m shocked that they still make it. It’s doubled in price to $6 a bottle. I’m going to order some for fun, let’s see if it still tastes filthy good after all these years.
As a responsible blogger, I should friendly remind you to be smarter than Nara and me, don’t drink unless you’re over the legal age! And don’t sneakily eat this yummy stew when your parents aren’t looking either!
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Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin is a classic French stew of braised chicken, bacon and mushroom in red wine. I fell in love with the ingredients and knew that I would love the stew before I even made it. A big yes to red wine, mushrooms are one of my favourite vegetables and I can never say no to bacon and it’s French! I knew this stew can’t go wrong.
Making this stew is quite simple, the preparation and cooking are pretty much straightforward and the ingredients aren’t too fancy. However, the stew is anything but simple in taste!
Coq au Vin tastes as impressive as its name. The sauce turns into a beautiful a deep brown, maroon colour and so will the chicken. It has a complex tasting sauce of red wine and chicken with an earthy taste from the herbs and spices. The red wine also gives the stew a slightly bitter and tangy flavour that is welcoming. There is no cream in this stew but somehow tastes rich and indulgent.
Cooking with bone in chicken with skin releases intense chicken flavour into the stew. The chicken is first pan fried to brown before adding to the stew. It’s then cooked slowly on low heat for approximately an hour to make it juicy and tender. The bones in the chicken keep the flesh moist and succulent.
Coq au Vin is a beautiful and comforting dish to serve around the table during winter. All you need is a large bowl of mashed potatoes and freshly baked baguette to scoop up all the wonderful sauce.
Ingredients for Coq au Vin
Chicken thigh cutlets are chicken thigh fillets with the bone in and skin on. Any chicken parts will work, as long as it’s bone-in with skin.
Red wine – I’ve made this stew with a bottle of cheap dry red wine and it came out really bitter. To fix this, I swapped it to ‘red blend’ wine that we drink often, it’s a little sweet and less bitter. It made a world of a difference, so the key here is to use a red wine that you know and love to drink.
Bacon – I used middle bacon as I couldn’t get any other variety because of the lockdown. I removed the rind and most of the fat from the rashes. Shortcut or lean bacon is best because the stew is already rich so it doesn’t need the fatty parts of the bacon.
Eschalots (French shallots)– With several varieties of shallots, spring onions and other small onions it can get confusing. It also doesn’t help that countries call the same type of veggies a different name! Eschalots look like small brown onions but are skinny and oval-shaped, they’re difficult to peel and way more expensive than other types of onions.
Salt-reduced chicken stock – I prefer using salt-reduced stock in my dishes because it gives me the flexibility to adjust the salt later to my taste. The last thing you want is a dish that ends up being way too salty!
How to make Coq au Vin
Step-by-step guide with photos
Lightly sprinkle salt on both sides of the chicken. Fry the chicken in two batches. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large dutch oven or a deep frying pan on high heat. Place the chicken skin down, fry each side for 5 minutes or until brown. Remove the chicken onto a plate and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken. Leave the chicken on the plate and set it aside.
Use tongs with a paper towel to remove some oil from the pan or dutch oven leaving approximately one or two teaspoons. Heat the pan on medium to high heat, add in the bacon and stir to cook until it browns. Add in the butter, stir until melted, add in the garlic, eschalots and cook for 2 minutes. Then add in the brandy, stir quickly and cook until the alcohol smell dissipates.
Bring the stew together
Add in the flour and stir quickly to cook for a minute then pour in half of the wine, keep mixing until it turns into sludge. Pour the remaining wine and mix, then add in the stock, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, peppercorn, chicken powder and salt. Mix well and carefully add in the chicken, skin side up. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 40 minutes, stirring now and again.
Add in the mushrooms and cook the stew uncovered for a further 20 minutes. Have a taste and add salt or pepper if needed, give it a good stir and remove from heat. Garnish with thyme and parsley (if using). Serve with French baguette and mashed potatoes.
Leftovers – Allow the stew to cool completely at room temperature. Transfer the stew into a sealed container and refrigerate, it’ll be good for up to 3 days.
Looking for some delicious and comforting recipes? BEEF MOUSSAKA will satisfy the entire family or perhaps STICKY DATE PUDDING for dessert!
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
French Chicken Stew Red Wine (Coq au Vin)
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1.5 kilo chicken thigh cutlet (6-7 pieces) (NOTE 1)
- salt to season
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the stew
- 200 gm bacon (chop into large strips) (NOTE 2)
- 50 gm butter
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 8 small eschalots (peeled) (NOTE 3)
- ¼ cup brandy
- ⅓ cup plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 750 ml red wine (NOTE 4)
- 2 cups salt-reduced chicken stock (low sodium) (NOTE 5)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 4 sprigs thyme (fresh)
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp chicken powder (chicken stock powder or stock cube)
- ½ tsp salt
- 400 gm small Button mushrooms
- salt and pepper to taste
Optional garnish
- fresh thyme sprigs
- finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Lightly sprinkle salt on both sides of the chicken. Fry the chicken in two batches. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large dutch oven or a deep frying pan on high heat. Place the chicken skin down, fry each side for 5 minutes or until brown. Remove the chicken onto a plate and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken. Leave the chicken on the plate and set it aside.
- Use tongs with a paper towel to remove some oil from the pan or dutch oven leaving approximately one or two teaspoons. Heat the pan on medium to high heat, add in the bacon and stir to cook until it browns. Add in the butter, stir until melted, add in the garlic, eschalots and cook for 2 minutes. Then add in the brandy, stir quickly and cook until the alcohol smell dissipates.
- Add in the flour and stir quickly to cook for a minute then pour in half of the wine, keep mixing until it turns into sludge. Pour the remaining wine and mix, then add in the stock, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, peppercorn, chicken powder and salt. Mix well and carefully add in the chicken, skin side up. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 40 minutes, stirring now and again.
- Add in the mushrooms and cook the stew uncovered for a further 20 minutes. Have a taste and add salt or pepper if needed, give it a good stir and remove from heat. Garnish with thyme and parsley (if using). Serve with French baguette and mashed potatoes.
