Man, I haven't had alcohol in since August 2nd 2012!!! Yes, I remember the date, it's etched in my brain. I cannot wait to taste alcohol...Anyway, since I am not allowed to have alcohol for a while, I figured i might as well attempt to enjoy the flavor without the alcohol. (When you cook with wine/cognac, the alcohol evaporates leaving you with just the flavor). I decided to make Coq Au Vin which is pretty much just a fancy French term for chicken in wine sauce. It's a really delicious dish, it has mushrooms and bacon and pearl onions. This dish is traditionally made with red wine (burgundy), but I HATE red wine ughhh, It's gross and bitter. So if any recipe calls for red wine, I generally use white wine instead. Hence the 'Blanc' in the name of the dish. Plus I also feel white wine gives any dish a lighter crisper taste.
INGREDIENTS
6 chicken thighs
1/2 pack of frozen baby (pearl) onions - (you can use fresh pearl onions, but i wont be caught dead trying to peel those little suckers, so I just use the prepackaged frozen ones)
1 medium onion
4 habanero pepper (I put habanero in EVERYTHING, I like spicy food)
8 bacon strips
4 large carrots
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup mushrooms (I used crimini mushrooms)
1/4 cup of cognac
1/4 cup of cognac
1 cup of your favorite white wine
1 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of bacon
1 stalk of fresh basil (optional)
1tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Put a splash of olive oil into the pot/pan. Then cut the bacon into little bits. Add the bacon to the pot and let cook for about 8mins until the bacon is crisp. The bacon will also produce it's own grease.
As the bacon is cooking up... salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. When the bacon's done.. remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon leaving behind the fat/grease in the pot. Brown both sides of the chicken in the bacon grease. about 3mins on each side .
Remove the chicken and put it in the same dish as the chicken. Cut up carrots, I like cutting the carrots into big thick slices. Slice the Onions, mince the garlic and habanero pepper (if necessary). Add the onions and garlic to the pot and allow the onions to soften. Then add the carrots.
Pour in 1/4 cup of cognac to deglaze the pan and get all those delicious crusty parts into the sauce. Add 1 cup of wine and stir with a wooden spoon. Then add the chicken stock.
Return the bacon and chicken back to the pot. Add a pinch of salt, a little bit of black pepper and 1tsp of thyme! Cover pot for about 45mins.
I love basil in everything.. so to give it a hit of basil flavor, I just put a stalk of basil on top and allow it to cook with.
As the chicken cooks, in a different pan melt 1tbs of butter and add about 1/4 sliced onion to the pan. When soft, add sliced mushrooms to the pan and sauté.
After 45mins, remove the chicken and basil (if necesssary) from the pot and stir the sauce. if it's a little too watery, you can make a rue to thicken it . (just mix 3tbs of flour w/ 1tbs of butter) and add it to the sauce. Add in sautéed mushrooms and stir, but be careful not to break the mushrooms. Also add the pearl onions into the pot.
Then return the chicken to the pot and allow to cook for another 10mins or so.
Voila... Coq Au Vin Blanc is ready
