Finally! Nans Coq Au Vin
Saturday, February 15, 2014 by Unknown
To bring everyone up to speed, my family (myself, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces) meet at my Moms (now Nan, thanks to the grandchildren) every Sunday night for dinner. Therefore, most of the time, Mondays entry will be from what we ate at Nans the night before. Nan does not always like having her food on display and sometimes feels that the pressure is too much. But the rules are, I write about what I had for dinner every night, whether its Nans food, fast food, take-out food and or my food. If you go back a few weeks, you will find where Nan attempted Coq Au Vin, but had to terminate the attempt and call in a stunt chicken for dinner due to an unfortunate flambe incident. Last night was her Coq Au Vin grudge match and, fortunately for us all, she prevailed.
Here is the recipe which she has been making since we were children. She actually got the recipe from my aunt (my Dads sister), but I do not know the exact origins beyond her.
One 3 to 3 1/2 pound chicken, cut up
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp. season-all (similar to seasoned salt but it will say "season-all" on the label)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cognac or brandy
12 small white onions
12 small whole mushrooms
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/4 tsp. thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. parsley flakes
1 cup dry red wine
Dredge chicken pieces in mixture of flour, season-all, paprika, pepper and nutmeg. Brown slowly in hot butter. Without removing from heat, pour cognac over chicken; light immediately and flame. Add whole onions, mushrooms, remaining seasonings and wine. Cover and simmer one hour or until chicken is tender. May be cooked ahead of time and reheated.
*My note - I copied down this recipe exactly as it is written. I would, however, suggest fresh herbs as opposed to dried, particularly with regard to the parsley. Fresh herbs are widely available in the supermarket and would work very well in this dish. I would recommend adding the rosemary and thyme before cooking and waiting until just before serving to add a 1/4 cup or so of chopped fresh parsley. Also, when using fresh herbs be sure to use quite a bit more than the amount of dried herbs suggested.
Post a Comment