It's time again for a monthly installment of the Burwell General Store recipe swap! You may remember last month we each did our own take on molasses cookies. This month we were presented with a savory dish:
A rabbit stew! I enjoy rabbit, but in the spirit of the swap, I had to make some changes. I wanted to stick with a similar idea of making a stew. After some research and cookbook consulting, I decided on Coq au Vin. Fancy right? Coq au Vin is a French dish prepared with chicken, vegetables, bacon, and wine. How could I go wrong?
I was gifted a lovely Ina Garten cookbook from my dear friend Paula, and the book included a recipe for Coq au Vin! Perfect.....this would be my guide!
The recipe itself is really pretty easy! Honest! But, let's just keep that between us, so you can impress your friends. There's just lots of time spent chopping, and browning, and mixing, and then eating! yum!
Here's what you need:
Now typically I would not make anything with mushrooms! I'm not a fan. However, Darling Husband adores them, and that's just the sort of wifey I am!
I would recommend getting all your ingredients prepped and chopped ahead of time. I also recommend a little Beyonce in the background (can you believe she is only turning 30 today??!)
Coq au Vin
adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients:
One pound of chicken (I used thighs)
8 ounces Pancetta cubes
1 pound carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 sliced yellow onions
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups Pinot Noir
2 cups chicken stock
1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 pound frozen small whole onions
1 pound cremini mushrooms, remove stems and thickly slice
Olive oil, salt, and pepper
Preheat oven to 275 degrees
Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add your pancetta cubes and cook until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate.
Sprinkle both sides of your chicken with salt and pepper. Put a few pieces of chicken in the Dutch oven and cook in your bacon grease. You may need to do this in batches, do not stack your chicken. Turn chicken until evenly browned on both sides, about 5 minutes or so. Add browned chicken to plate with bacon
Now add carrots and yellow onions to your Dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute.
Return chicken and pancetta to the Dutch oven, being sure to include all the juices. Add wine, chicken stock, and thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil.
Cover the pot and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place on top of the stove.
Mash 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour, making a paste. Add this paste to your stew. Then add your frozen pearl onions.
In a medium saute pan melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cook mushrooms over medium low heat, until brown, about 5-10 minutes. Add to the stew and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking for another ten minutes.
Serve with some salad, bread, and wine, and you have a fine meal on your hands!
This was a hearty dish, but not heavy like other stews. Pretty nice considering I made this on one of the hottest days we have seen in Seattle all summer!
Your dinner companions will be so impressed. Let them know it was no biggie, but drink lots of wine to help you "relax." Afterall, you just made Coq au Vin.
Julia Child would be proud!
Another fun recipe swap!
Please visit all my fellow-swappers to see what sort of mouth-watering dishes they have created, you won't be disappointed:
Dennis, Toni, Shumaila, Lora, Lindsay, Mari, Pola, Jamie, Claire,Shari, Joy, Monique, Linda, Priya, Rachel, Alli, Katy, Emily, Krissy, Jacqueline, Christianna and Jaclyn.
Looking forward to next month!
