Coq Au Vin from Julia Child

Coq au Vin a French braise of chicken cooked with wine, mushrooms, small onions, lardons of pork, and optionally garlic. This combination makes a wonderfully satisfying dish. The preparation is somewhat similar to Chicken Cacciatora, in that both are stews involving chicken, red wine and mushrooms, but the similarities end there. Coq au vin involves more hand work there are lardons of bacon to prepare for the special flavor they give to the sauce. In Coq au vin, chicken is typically marinaded prior to cooking, the sauce uses roux, and the chicken can be flamed with brandy.

The wine is typically Burgundy red, but many regions of France have variants of Coq au vin using local wines, such as coq au vin jaune (Jura), coq au Riesling (Alsace), coq au Champagne, and so on. Although the word "coq" means "rooster" most coq au vin recipes call for chicken. In general, mature poultry benefits from long braining, but young chicken breasts or thighs do not need to long.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lardons (4 ounces -- 1-by-1/4-inch strips of blanched slab bacon or salt por)
• 2 1/2 to 3 pounds frying chicken parts
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, pureed
• 1 imported bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp or so thyme
• 1 large ripe red unpeeled tomato, chopped, (or 1/3 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes)
• 3 cups young red wine (Zinfandel, Macon or Chianti type)
• 1 cup chicken stock (or more)
• Beurre manie, for the sauce (1 1/2 tbsp each flour softened butter blended to a paste)
• Fresh parsley sprigs (or chopped parsley)
• 1/3 cup good brandy (optional)
• 12 to 16 small brown-braised white onions
• 3 cups fresh mushrooms, trimmed, quartered and sautéed

Preparation:

1. Aauté the blanched bacon or salt pork and remove to a side dish, leaving the fat in the pan. Brown the chicken in the pork fat, adding a little olive oil, if needed. Flame the chicken with the brandy, if you wish -- it does give its own special flavor, besides being fun to do. Then proceed to simmer the chicken in the wine, stock, tomatoes and seasoning as directed in the master recipe. Finishing the dish. Strain, degrease, and finish the sauce, also as described. Strew the braised onions and sautéed mushrooms over the chicken, baste with the sauce, and simmer a few minutes, basting, to rewarm the chicken and to blend flavors. Special note: To blanch bacon or salt pork: When you use bacon or salt pork in cooking, you want to remove its salt as well as its smoky flavor, which would permeate the rest of the food. To do so, you blanch it -- meaning, you drop it into a saucepan of cold water to cover it by 2 to 3 inches, bring it to the boil, and simmer 5 to 8 minutes; the drain, refresh in cold water, and pat dry in paper towels
2. YIELD: Serves 4