Date Night In: Coq au Vin

Coq Au Vin Part Trois (links to parts 1 and 2 here)

“Another easy dish that looks like it is hard. It is not in fact, this is the kind of dish you might enjoy spending a leisurely afternoon with” – Anthony Bourdain, Les Halles Cookbook.

It’s back! Tender chicken pieces bathed in a rich and silky red wine sauce with baby onions and mushrooms. Coq Au Vin the inaugural Zen blog recipe is out for another go around, this time cooked in a Dutch Oven for date night in.

With no place to go since early March many of you will have learned to be creative about date night. Maybe you’ve changed out of your sweat pants for cocktail hour in the kitchen or enjoyed a candlelit supper prepared and delivered by a local restaurant. In our very own lockdown haze we occupied ourselves with excessive meal planning. We created back up plans for the meal plans all culminating in our weekly Saturday night collaboration in the kitchen. And it’s non negotiable. It’s the one night a week when we create space for dinner as a couple. We’re here to share how you can prep this date-night-in-worthy Coq au Vin left to bubble on the stove while you enjoy your apératif. À votre santé! Saluti! Cheers!

A little history of our Coq au Vin…

We brought this blog to life in 2012 with our slow cooker Coq au Vin to pay homage to Julia Child. Her evolution as a culinary ambassador to French cooking in America during the 1960’s left a legacy – accessible French cuisine for the home cook.

Five years on from the original slow cooker Coq Au Vin and our Instant Pot recipe sprung into the limelight.

To bring these recipes to the plate required additional research including thumbing the pages of a wrinkled, wine stained copy of Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. A treasured wedding gift we cooked many dishes together from in the years before our children were born.

The recipe itself…

If you’re a purist then it is important to note that we short cut the stage which adds another day to the preparation. The traditional recipe is designed for a whole bird, a tougher old rooster or “Coq” which is deserving of an overnight marinade. 

However you choose to prepare Coq au Vin, in a Dutch oven, slow cooker, or pressure cooker you can serve it straight to the table from the pot, immediately after cooking. It can also benefit from an overnight stay in the refrigerator so we give it a thumbs up for making the day before and reheating slowly.

Print Recipe

Dutch Oven Coq Au Vin

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs chicken thighs bone-in, skin on
• 2 tbsp flour can sub GF flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 thick slices bacon cut into 1″pieces
• 12 baby onions peeled
• 2 tsp 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz pack mushrooms sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Coq au Vin blend
• 1/4 cup 2 fl oz cognac or brandy (optional)
• 1-3/4 cups 14 fl oz red wine (can also substitute 1 cup chicken broth for 1 cup of the red wine)
• to serve: creamy mashed potatoes, fresh green salad with toasted walnuts & French dressing, crusty bread to mop up the sauce

Instructions

Slow Cook

• 1) Toss the chicken in flour and salt to coat. 2) Heat the oil in a skillet on medium; brown the chicken for 3 minutes; transfer the chicken to the cooker with the remaining flour. 3) In the same skillet, sauté the bacon, onions, garlic, and mushrooms for 2 minutes; add the mixture to the cooker. 4) Stir in the garlic and tomato paste, sprinkle in the Coq Au Vin blend and add the cognac and wine/broth; stir and cover. 5) Cook on LOW: 7-8 hours or HIGH: 3-4 hours.

Pressure Cook

• 1) Toss the chicken in the flour and salt to coat. 2) In the cooker heat half of the oil on sauté function and brown chicken for 3 minutes; remove and set aside on a plate. 3) Add the bacon, onion, garlic, and mushrooms to pot and sauté for 2 minutes. 4) Stir in the tomato paste, sprinkle in the Coq Au Vin blend & add the cognac and wine/broth 5) Return the chicken pieces to the cooked and stir making sure to scrape any bits from the bottom of the pot 6) Secure the cooker lid and pressure valve to Sealing; press the Manual button and adjust the cook time to 15 minutes. 7) Turn the dial to Venting and use Quick Pressure Release.

Dutch Oven

• 1) Toss the chicken in flour and salt to coat. 2) Heat the oil in a the Dutch oven on medium; brown the chicken for 3 minutes; transfer the chicken to a plate 3) Add the bacon, onions, garlic, and mushrooms to the pot and sauté for 2 minutes. 4) Stir in the tomato paste, sprinkle in the Coq Au Vin blend & add the cognac and wine/broth 5) Return the chicken pieces to the pot and stir making sure to scrape any bits from the bottom. 6) Put the lid on and cook on a medium heat for 45 - 50 minutes, maintaining a low bubble.

Instagram Live Demo

In honor of National Coq Au Vin day come and watch us shine a light on this classic. Join us on Instagram Live as we share how to prepare Coq Au Vin in #2 of our home kitchen demo series on Thursday 28th May at 12 noon Central Time. Follow us on Instagram @zenofslowcooking to save the date for a reminder!.

Don’t forget to pick up a Coq Au Vin blend on our website. For every $20 you spend in May we will donate a food card to a homeless child. Fill a Heart for Kids.

Zen Moment

Another easy dish that looks like it is hard. It is not in fact, this is the kind of dish you might enjoy spending a leisurely afternoon with. There are plenty of opportunities for breaks. It’s durable, delicious, and the perfect illustration of the principles of turning something big and tough and unlovely into something truly wonderful. Knock out your prep one thing at a time, slowly building your mise en place. Listen to some music while you do it. There’s an open bottle of wine left from the recipe, so have a glass now and again. Just clean up after yourself as you go, so your kitchen doesn’t look like a disaster area when you start the actual cooking. You should. with any luck, reach a Zen-like state of pleasurable calm. And like the very best dishes coq a vin is one of those that goes on the stove looking, smelling and tasting pretty nasty, and yet later, through the mysterious alchemical processes of time and heat turns into something magical.” – Anthony Bourdain, Les Halles Cookbook