Coq au Vin

Name: Coq au Vin
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 220 ml/7½ fl oz/scant 1 cup chicken stock (bouillon); 100 g/3½ oz smoked bacon lardons; salt and black pepper; 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, to finish; 4 bone-in and skin-on chicken drumsticks; 1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour; 200 g/7 oz shallots, peeled and halved (see hack); mashed potatoes or cooked rice, to serve; vegetable oil, for frying; 475 ml/16½ fl oz/2 cups red wine; 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (see hack); 1 tsp chopped thyme leaves; 250 g/9 oz chestnut (cremini) mushrooms, quartered; 2 tbsp tomato purée (paste); 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 bay leaf

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom

By Prue Leith

Published 2024

About

Coq au Vin was the first fancy French dish I ever made, and it has been a stalwart of Leith’s School of Food and Wine ever since. The trick is to boil down the wine so that it imparts its flavour and richness without any winey alcoholic taste. If it looks purple, it needs more reducing.

Ingredients

475 ml/16½ fl oz/2 cups red wine
2

Europe
France
Main course
Mediterranean

Method

Pour the wine into a large bowl and add the garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Stir, add all the chicken pieces, then cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper. Reserve the marinade.
In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook the lardons on a medium heat, occasionally shaking