Coq Au Vin.

A couple of months ago, Lourdes and I went to Cafe Bleu because it had re-opened in Mission Hills after closing in Hillcrest. I had raved about it for so long and then was sad when it closed. But when it re-opened, I told Lourdes that we had to go.

I had ordered duck and Lourdes had ordered the Coq Au Vin (which literally translates to Cock of the Wine... or better known as Cock cooked in Wine), which to my surprise was terrible! I was so embarrassed because I had nothing but good things to say about Cafe Bleu, until that night.

So to redeem my creditability, I decided to make it myself!

I wasn't sure if it would be easy so I prepared myself and looked through various versions of how to make it. Luckily I had my Essentials of French Cooking Cookbook and my Tools & Techniques book from Williams-Sonoma (which I will feature in a future post).

The gist of the recipe(s) that I read all started with cooking bacon in a pot and once cooked, leaving the fat in the pot and slowly cooking a few pieces of chicken at a time (I forgot to mention that I had to "cut up" a whole chicken, which is why I had my Tools & Techniques book out, because I needed a refresher)

Once the chicken was all cooked, I had to let it sit on a plate for a few minutes to let the juices drain settle.

While the chicken sat, I added carrots and pearl onions to the bacon-chicken fat that was still in the pan. I slowly let them brown...

'

...and then added the chicken and bacon back into the pot, along with a sprinkling of flour, red wine, parsley, thyme, and a bay leaf.

I then had to let the entire mixture simmer on medium heat for about 45-60 minutes.



After being tortured for an hour with the amazing aromas, I had to quickly saute some mushrooms and add them to the pot.... and viola!


I had made some mashed potatoes and corn as well. Everyone loved it, including Lourdes, who said "this is what it is supposed to taste like!"