Summary

A very delicious dish of chicken in an exquisite sauce - defintely one of my favourites.

I've suggested two chicken thighs per person, but a whole leg per person ie thigh and drumstick works well. You can also use chicken breast if preferred, but you will pay more and it won't be as tastey.

The secret to the sauce is in all the ingredients including the vegetables, they're not there just to make up your five a day. The bonus is that most of your meal is cooking in one pot, leaving say, just some potatoes to go on the side.

I use a shiraz or similar full bodied wine for the dish. You don't need to go overboard with the quality, but if you're not prepared to drink it, don't use it in your cooking.

Nowadays I like to use an oven proof metal pot so I can get things started on the hob first, it's just a little bit more convenient, but you can improvise adequately with a casserole dish.

Bon appetite !

 

Click to watch video

 

Method

Instructions for a delicious coq au vin:

1. Set the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (180 fan, Gas Mark 5)
   
   
2. Add 250ml of water to the casserole and stir in the tomato puree, garlic, thyme, paprika, sugar, and bay leaf. Crumble in the stock cube. Add the wine and bring everything to the boil (either in the oven, or on the hob if you are using a suitable pot).
   
   
3. Peel the shallots and leave whole. Clean the button mushrooms with kitchen paper. Clean and peel the carrots, and cut into 4 - 6cm lengths. Top and tail, then wash the celery sticks and cut them into 4 - 6cm lengths. (Tip: We're going to be serving the celery on the plates, so avoid the outer sticks if they're too woody).
   
   
4. Cut the gammon steak into about 8 chunks. If you're using bacon rashers, cut into 3cm pieces. Gently fry with a little oil in a frying pan or wok and transfer to the casserole. Don't clean the pan.
   
   
5. If you don't want skin on the chicken you will need to remove it now (my personal preference is to remove it as I think it detracts from the appearance of the final dish).
   
   
6. Pat the chicken in the flour which you've seasoned with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shallow fry the chicken in the same pan you used for the gammon (add a little more oil if necessary), just enough to give it some colour (don't overwhelm the pan, do a few pieces at a time). Then transfer the chicken to the casserole. Don't clean the pan.
   
   
7. Add a small amount of oil to the pan, and stir fry the carrots. shallots, celery, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes and then add about 50ml of water to de-glaze the pan and get every last bit of flavour out of it. Transfer everything in the pan to the casserole.
   
   
8. Leave the casserole to cook for 30 mins, stirring occasionally and gently. Then turn down the oven so that the contents are just simmering for a further 40 minutes. At the end of cooking, if you left the skin on the chicken you may need to gently remove any excess fat floating on the surface with a spoon. Otherwise add the lemon juice, have a quick taste to see if any more seasoning is required, and give a gentle stir. The dish is now ready to serve.
   
   
9. When serving, ensure everyone gets a similar amount of each of the ingredients. Likewise, if you are freezing the dish, make sure the ingredients are portioned evenly.