Coq au vin

When I was in college, Dr. Prill, the main French teacher, and her husband would have the French students over once a semester for a huge French feast. We would walk in and breathe in the wonderful aroma of the traditional French stew, Coq au Vin. Traditionally this was rooster slow-cooked in wine to make the meat more tender... I have always had it with regular chicken. This recipe can be adjusted based on the time you have to prepare it... for a crockpot: cut the liquid in half and cook on low for 6 hours. For a dutch oven, use 2/3 of the liquid and cook on the stove on low for 3-4 hours. If you only have an hour or 2, follow this recipe using a stock pot(adapted from this Whole Foods recipe and this Emeril recipe and another recipe I did at a Salud class that I cannot currently locate) :

Coq au Vin

serves about 6

(adjust ingredients and quantities based on your preferences... you really can't go wrong!)

-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

-a pie plate filled with flour (about a half cup), seasoned with salt and pepper

-1/2 lb thick bacon, diced

-a couple of tablespoons of olive oil

-2 cups chopped yellow onion (if you are slow-cooking, just cut into quarters or sixths... you can also use pearl onions)

-1 lb white, button, or baby bella mushrooms, quartered

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 shallot, diced

-2 or 3 carrots, cut into chunks

-2 cups chicken broth

-3 cups red wine

-2 sprigs thyme

Coat chicken on both sides with seasoned flour and set aside. Fry bacon until crispy, and move to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon. Brown the floured chicken in the bacon grease, about 2 minutes per side. Set chicken aside. Adding olive oil when necessary, sautee the onions until tender, and place in a stock pot. Brown the mushrooms, add to pot. Sautee shallots and garlic, add to pot. Sautee the carrots, add to pot. Cover the vegetables with broth and turn burner on medium-high. Add chicken, bacon, wine, and thyme and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour (or turn burner lower and simmer longer). Remove thyme before serving.

You have several options for serving... serve in a bowl as a stew, serve on a plate over couscous, mashed potatoes, or beside a crusty baguette.