Coq au Vin for Two
By Lawman JohnsonPublished on October 18, 2021
Time
1 hour
Yield
Serves 2
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Quarter the shallots lengthwise if they're bigger than golf balls; keep the root ends intact to hold them together.
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place chicken skin side down in 10-inch nonstick skillet. Cook chicken over medium-high heat, without moving it, until skin is well browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate, skin side up.
- Add bacon to fat left in skillet and cook over medium heat until crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to small paper towel–lined plate; set aside.
- Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet (add enough oil to equal 2 tablespoons if needed). Heat fat left in skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms, shallots, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until vegetables are softened and browned, 7 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, flour, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in broth and wine and bring to simmer.
- Nestle chicken, skin side up, into sauce and pour in any accumulated juices from plate. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; and simmer until chicken registers 200 degrees, about 20 minutes.
- Off heat, let chicken rest in skillet, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and bacon. Serve.
Time
1 hourYield
Serves 2Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Julia Child helped introduce coq au vin, chicken stewed in red wine, to the American food consciousness in the early 1960s. While its ingredients are humble, the dish can require multiple steps and hours in the kitchen. To serve two, we needed a simplified, yet still flavorful, version. For complex flavor, we browned chicken leg quarters (which are juicier than white meat and the perfect amount for two people), crisped bacon in the chicken fat, and set both aside. Then we sautéed mushrooms and shallots. Next we added rich tomato paste, garlic, and thyme for depth, along with a little flour to achieve the right sauce consistency. A combination of chicken broth and red wine created a potent and flavorful base. Returning the leg quarters skin side up preserved the crisped, browned skin while the chicken simmered to a perfect doneness in just 20 minutes. The legs absorbed the flavors we built in the pan as they cooked and contributed their own notes to the sauce. We finished the dish by sprinkling fresh parsley and the reserved crispy bacon on top.
Before You Begin
Quarter the shallots lengthwise if they're bigger than golf balls; keep the root ends intact to hold them together.
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place chicken skin side down in 10-inch nonstick skillet. Cook chicken over medium-high heat, without moving it, until skin is well browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate, skin side up.
- Add bacon to fat left in skillet and cook over medium heat until crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to small paper towel–lined plate; set aside.
- Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet (add enough oil to equal 2 tablespoons if needed). Heat fat left in skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms, shallots, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until vegetables are softened and browned, 7 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, flour, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in broth and wine and bring to simmer.
- Nestle chicken, skin side up, into sauce and pour in any accumulated juices from plate. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; and simmer until chicken registers 200 degrees, about 20 minutes.
- Off heat, let chicken rest in skillet, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and bacon. Serve.
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