Ingredients:
- 4 chicken marylands
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 3 bruised garlic cloves, 2 grated garlic cloves
- 750ml red wine (shiraz)
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil or olive oil
- 200g speck, cut into thick batons, skin removed and reserved
- 250g button mushrooms
- 50g unsalted butter
- 12 onion eschallots, skin peeled
- 60g plain flour
- 2 cups (500ml) beef stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Method
SERVES 4 | PREP OVERNIGHT, COOK 1 HOUR 10 MINS
- Place the chicken, bay, thyme, the bruised garlic and black peppercorns in a large bowl. Pour over the wine then cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Drain the solids, but reserve the wine. Heat oil in a casserole pan over medium high heat, then season chicken and cook (in two batches) until browned all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the speck to the pan and cook for 2–3 minutes until the fat starts to render then remove from the pan using a slotted spoon. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 2–3 minutes until they colour, then remove and add the butter and onions (adding a little more butter if needed) and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, scatter over the flour and stir.
- Deglaze the pan with the reserved wine and the beef stock. Return the chicken, speck and skin, mushrooms as well as the bay leaf and thyme from the marinade and add the tomato paste to the pan.
- Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes, then remove lid and cook for further 40 minutes until sauce has thickened and reduced. Season to taste and scatter with parsley and serve alongside pomme puree.
Tip: Marinate the marylands overnight for a richer flavour.
There are thousands of chicken recipes around the world, but there is one that’s close to my heart, Coq au Vin.
What is Coq au Vin? Simply, chicken cooked with wine. Coq au Vin is a classical dish from the Burgundy region of France, so the traditional is cooked using red wine – any fruity red wine will work, think Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot…
The key ingredients are chicken, speck, mushroom, eschalots and red wine. The result is a delicious tender chicken dish in a rich red wine sauce.
There are of course many variations on this delicious recipe – which usually start by using a different wine to marinate!
Coq au Vin Blanc uses white wine to marinade – Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris – and this can be straight substituted instead of red wine. The taste will be a bit lighter and not as rich as the traditional.
Coq au Vin with no wine is possible too – you can substitute equal parts tomato juice and water plus a splash of red wine vinegar for the red wine in my recipe.
And, for those who love a creamy finish, adding a splash of pouring cream to finish for any variation will give you a creamier dish.
So, four ways to Coq au Vin are:
-
- Coq au Vin classic with red wine
- Coq au Vin Blanc with white wine
- Coq au Vin zero alcohol with tomato juice
- Add pouring cream to make it creamier!
But I must say, when it comes to Coq au Vin, I’m a traditionalist, so it’s Coq au Vin classic with red wine for me.
For the full recipe, download our Farm to Fork recipe e-Book.
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