Coq au Riesling

I recently posted a recipe for Bouef Bourguignon that I love to cook on cold winter days.  I think it's really great to have a good arsenal of cold-weather recipes to bring out this time of year. However, as most of us have a rotation of recipes we rely on, the time inevitably comes you start to tire of slow cooked, beef-heavy recipes and long for something a little brighter and quicker. My Coq au Vin recipe ticks all of these boxes for me, yet still gives the warmth and comfort I love while it cooks away on the stove filling the house with mouth watering aromas.

Most people are familiar with the traditional Coq au Vin recipe which braises chicken in wine (traditionally red).  While I like the classic version of this dish, I've given it a bit of a make-over by using white wine, mustard and finishing with cream.  My wine of choice is a nice dry Riesling which adds a wonderful depth of wine flavour without overpowering the other ingredients.  In the past, most Riesling I've come across here in Canada was often sweet and fruity making it a poor choice for savoury recipes. However, dry Riesling varietals are becoming more and more popular and readily accessible in most places.  Thus, I've started cooking a lot with this wine and find it very versatile and an overall great choice.  Of course, you could use any dry white wine you like it doesn't have to be Riesling.

I prefer to cook this recipe in a shallow braiser, dutch oven or a skillet (with a lid) as opposed to a deep dutch oven.  This way, less of the chicken skin is submerged in the liquid preventing it from becoming loose and flabby.  As well, I find using a shallow braiser helps the sauce to reduce faster lowering the cooking time.  There are lots of reasons to make this recipe, but tops for me is that it doesn't take a particularly long time to cook, while still having the flavour of a slow roasted recipe.

The finished product has a creamy luscious quality that's balanced nicely by the tang of Dijon mustard.  It pairs beautifully with the same Riesling wine it was braised in and can be served alongside some lightly buttered noodles or steamed potatoes.  Overall, I think this zhooshed up version of Cog au Vin is a great recipe to brighten up the winter recipe repertoire.

Here's the recipe:

1 whole chicken broken down into 8 pieces (or 10 pieces if the breasts are quite large and you wish to cut them in half) or any individual chicken pieces of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of butter or bacon grease
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 pound of crimini mushrooms quartered (or cut into chunks)
1 medium yellow onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 to 1/2 cup of wine for deglazing
1 sprig of fresh Rosemary
3 to 4 sprigs of fresh Thyme
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
1 to 2 cups more wine, to simmer the chicken in
1 cup of whipping cream
1 tablespoon of butter
More salt and pepper to taste for finishing
Parsley roughly chopped for garnish

Break down the chicken by using a sharp thin bladed knife, such as a boning or fillet knife.  If you do not have either of these use a regular chef's knife in conjunction with a paring knife to get into the small areas.  Cut off both legs first, slicing between the joints to separate.  Then remove the wish bone (using the paring knife if you don't have a boning or fillet knife) to make removing the breasts much easier.  Then slice each breast off the bone trying to keep as close to the bone as possible to avoid leaving a lot of breast meat attached to the body.  Then cut around the thigh and slicing between the joints to remove.  Pat all the pieces down with some paper towel and season with salt and pepper.  If you're not comfortable breaking down a whole chicken, go ahead and use any chicken pieces you like, boneless skinless chicken thighs are usually available in most grocery stores and work well.  Whatever chicken meat you use, I would still advice patting it down with paper towel before seasoning.  This will help ensure the meat browns nicely when searing it later.

In the shallow braiser or pan, heat the butter and oil (or bacon grease) until melted.  Add a few pieces of the chicken to the pan searing on all sides until browned all over.  Depending on the size of your pan, this may need to be done in two batches to avoid crowding.  Otherwise the chicken will steam instead of searing, which results in flabby chicken skin.  I want the chicken to be golden brown and the skin crispy to develop a lot of flavour in short amount of time.  Once all the chicken pieces are nicely seared and crisp, remove to a plate or bowl and set aside.

Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and saute on medium high heat, until they are golden brown at which time add the onions, garlic, herbs, a pinch of salt and lower the heat down to medium low.  Let the mushroom and onion mixture cook until the onion and garlic has softened.  Then deglaze the pan with some of the white wine and stir to bring up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook on medium to medium low heat until the wine has reduced a little.

Then add the Dijon mustard and stir into the mixture and add the chicken back into the pan.  Pour more wine into the pan until the liquid comes halfway up the chicken pieces.

Cover with a lid, slightly ajar to release steam and let simmer on low heat for 30 to 40 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through and the sauce is thickened slightly.

Pour the cream into the pan, trying to avoid pouring directly over the chicken pieces (so the crispy skin doesn't soften) and continue to simmer with the lid off until the sauce is nicely thick. Add the butter to finish and add glossiness to the sauce and sprinkle with the parsley.  Serve, eat and enjoy!

Bon appetit!