Warm and Wonderful . . . .White Coq Au Vin

Winter has been flexing its muscle here for the last week with day time temps in the 30’s and nights in the teens. We have had some snow almost every day for a week and we are tired of it! Just saying . . . This dinner was the perfect antidote to our winter blues.

Much to Meg’s surprise and delight, Sue gifted herself with a new (and sharp) knife. Meg’s first comment when preparing to slice the vegetables was “Oh darn, I forgot the sharpener” where upon Sue smiled mischievously and whipped out the new weapon, aka the wondrous self-sharpening knife!

Self-sharpening wonder knife!

This white Coq Au Vin is a one pot wonder. It fills the house with enticing aromas for the entire time it is cooking and is a rich and comforting meal. The whole bottle of wine used to create this sauce combined with the vegetables is irresistible. You really need a crusty loaf of bread to dip in the sauce and wipe the bowl clean as we did. (Can you tell we loved it?)

Winter White Coq Au Vin

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time:  15 min
Inactive Prep Time:  --
Cook Time:  1 hr 15 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients

One 4 to 5-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
1 stick butter
EVOO, for drizzling
1 cup freshly peeled or defrosted drained pearl onions
3 to 4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 ribs celery heart with leafy tops, finely chopped
1 baby fennel or 1/4 small bulb, thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 large fresh bay leaf
One 750 milliliter-bottle dry white wine, such as white Burgundy
1 cup creme fraiche
2 to 3 cups chicken stock, if needed
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
Baguette, warmed

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken, working in batches, and then transfer to a plate.

Add a drizzle of EVOO to the pot along with the remaining butter, onions, garlic, celery, fennel and leeks. Sprinkle the vegetables with some salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the bay leaf and wine, return the chicken to the pot and cook, partially covered, over a low, rolling simmer, 30 minutes.

Stir in the creme fraiche, reduce to a simmer and continue to cook, 30 minutes longer. If the liquid gets too low, add the chicken stock. Transfer the chicken to a warm platter, and add the mustard and chopped tarragon at the last minute. Serve with warm baguette.

Notes
Cook's Note: Cool and store for a make-ahead meal. Bring to room temperature before reheating over medium heat.

Chicken browning in pot.

Chicken simmering in sauce with vegtables.

The finished dish!

This is mine! 

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We used 4 large chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken and substituted fresh thyme for the tarragon, because it was what we had. We only used a total of 4 tablespoons of butter and we did not need any of the chicken broth. We also thickened the sauce, after removing the chicken at the end of the cooking time, with a roux of 2 tablespoons of flour in ½ cup of the cooking liquid and simmered it for another few minutes.

This is such an easy and quick to prepare meal that it would work mid-week and is also special enough for invited guests.

We baked small sour dough loaves for soaking up the lusciousness, but choose a crusty bread of your choice.

The recipe called for a white burgundy, and we learned that chardonnay from the Bourgogne region of France is another name for white burgundy. We chose a 2011 Macon-Villages, Les Mulots, recommended by Rebecca from Total Wines. This was nothing like some of the California chardonnays we’ve tasted. Although it was a bit over our usual wine budget at $15.99, we would buy it to drink with another meal. After tasting it, we chose the merlot to have with the meal.

Chateau St Jean Merlot, $8.99 on sale at Raley's.

Our parting thoughts for this year are of the fun we have every blog week, the wonderful shared meals, the new friends we have made through this blog and the anticipation of continuing this journey next year! Thanks for coming along!

Happy New Year!