Yes, yes...there are plenty of Julia Child jokes I can make (and have made).
Coq au Vin is one of those dishes that defies all expectations on flavor as well as preparation. It's not as hard as one might think. Shopping List:
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Hardware:
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Prep:
You know what happens when you add water to hot oil? Yeah, let's avoid that and thoroughly dry your chicken thighs. Use paper towels for this. After that is done, liberally salt and pepper the chicken.
The good thing about CaV is that your knifework does not need to be exact since everything is going to be semi-stewed/roasted in the oven under a sea of red wine anyway. Roughly chop up the onions, celery, and carrots (everything should be roughly the same size, though). Keep these separate from your sliced mushrooms. Mince a few cloves of garlic for said mushrooms.
Preheat your oven to ~400 deg F. Preheat 0.25-0.5 inches of oil in your fry pan to somewhere near 350 deg F. We're basically caramelizing and rendering the skin of the chicken so everything doesn't turn into a soupy mess.
The Business:
Without crowding the pan (I never use more than 3 thighs for a single batch), carefully place the chicken thighs skin-side down into the oil and give it a little wiggle with some tongs so it doesn't stick to the bottom and peel away all the deliciousness that will be had. Continue frying the thighs on all sides until you've got some good golden caramelization done.
Evacuate these bad boys to a wire rack with some paper towels to drain. Also remove all but a couple of Tablespoons of the frying oil to a small bowl. Carefully. Some of the leftover oil is going to make a gravy, with the stuff in the pan used to sweat some aromatics.
Speaking of which, toss your rough chopped veggies into the pan and let them get happy with all the flavor from the oil. You're not looking for a hard saute here, but you also don't want mush to occur, so potentially undercook your aromatics because you'll be (again) roasting this under a sea of wine).
Evacuate the aromatics to a bowl so you can properly saute the mushrooms and garlic together. Add some more oil if the pan is dry. Did I mention this dish implies the culmination of a lot of dirty dishes?
Once everything has its pan-treatment, lay down a bed of the aromatics on top of the mushrooms, cover with your mostly cooked chicken. Then crack open that bottle of wine and start pouring. Don't stop until the chicken is almost covered. Stuff a bunch of fresh thyme sprigs down into this ocean of euphoria and a few bay leaves while you're at it.
Roast it up. Don't open your oven for a good 30 minutes if at all possible. Unless you want your home to smell like magic.
After the chicken has reached a safe level of internal temperature you can serve this as is. Ideally, the wine will have reduced somewhat in the pan whilst roasting. If it hasn't spoon some out into a separate saucepan and reduce until you've reached a desired thickness. Yes, it will be a red/pink gravy.
Serve this over a bed of starch. Mashed potatoes work great. So do egg noodles. Don't you dare try to un-carb this stuff, though, or Eric Ripert will find you and tell you about his favorite cheese and butter.
You know what happens when you add water to hot oil? Yeah, let's avoid that and thoroughly dry your chicken thighs. Use paper towels for this. After that is done, liberally salt and pepper the chicken.
The good thing about CaV is that your knifework does not need to be exact since everything is going to be semi-stewed/roasted in the oven under a sea of red wine anyway. Roughly chop up the onions, celery, and carrots (everything should be roughly the same size, though). Keep these separate from your sliced mushrooms. Mince a few cloves of garlic for said mushrooms.
Preheat your oven to ~400 deg F. Preheat 0.25-0.5 inches of oil in your fry pan to somewhere near 350 deg F. We're basically caramelizing and rendering the skin of the chicken so everything doesn't turn into a soupy mess.
The Business:
Without crowding the pan (I never use more than 3 thighs for a single batch), carefully place the chicken thighs skin-side down into the oil and give it a little wiggle with some tongs so it doesn't stick to the bottom and peel away all the deliciousness that will be had. Continue frying the thighs on all sides until you've got some good golden caramelization done.
Evacuate these bad boys to a wire rack with some paper towels to drain. Also remove all but a couple of Tablespoons of the frying oil to a small bowl. Carefully. Some of the leftover oil is going to make a gravy, with the stuff in the pan used to sweat some aromatics.
Speaking of which, toss your rough chopped veggies into the pan and let them get happy with all the flavor from the oil. You're not looking for a hard saute here, but you also don't want mush to occur, so potentially undercook your aromatics because you'll be (again) roasting this under a sea of wine).
Evacuate the aromatics to a bowl so you can properly saute the mushrooms and garlic together. Add some more oil if the pan is dry. Did I mention this dish implies the culmination of a lot of dirty dishes?
Once everything has its pan-treatment, lay down a bed of the aromatics on top of the mushrooms, cover with your mostly cooked chicken. Then crack open that bottle of wine and start pouring. Don't stop until the chicken is almost covered. Stuff a bunch of fresh thyme sprigs down into this ocean of euphoria and a few bay leaves while you're at it.
Roast it up. Don't open your oven for a good 30 minutes if at all possible. Unless you want your home to smell like magic.
After the chicken has reached a safe level of internal temperature you can serve this as is. Ideally, the wine will have reduced somewhat in the pan whilst roasting. If it hasn't spoon some out into a separate saucepan and reduce until you've reached a desired thickness. Yes, it will be a red/pink gravy.
Serve this over a bed of starch. Mashed potatoes work great. So do egg noodles. Don't you dare try to un-carb this stuff, though, or Eric Ripert will find you and tell you about his favorite cheese and butter.