Barefoot Bloggers - Coq Au Vin

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In our Barefoot Bloggers group, Bethany of this little piggy went to market chose Ina Garten's Coq Au Vin for us to try this week. Thanks Bethany!

Does anyone know where the phrase "under the weather" comes from? Well that is me. I'm not sure if I am under it or over it or crushed by it, but it has been a challenge of a week physically. I decided a good chicken dish might be just what the doctor ordered. My Yankee has fallen ill today too and we are just hoping he manages to recover quicker than I have. We are getting so far behind on our Christmas festivities. We missed one dinner party last weekend and this Friday night is my big Christmas dance. I'm hoping Mr. Man will be well enough to attend with me or I will have to dance solo.

Of course it never fails when I go to the store that I forget to buy one or two ingredients that I need, or that they are out of said ingredient. This time I forgot the mushrooms. So we are dining tonight on Coq Au Vin without mushrooms and without pearl onions and without fresh thyme, the latter of the three because I just do not care for it.

This was a relatively simply dish to prepare. Some chopping, but not too much. Of course Ina always makes everything look so simple and delicious.

Okay, you fry the chicken before you cook it in tons of liquid. How exactly does the pre-frying help it along?

Once it cooked in the oven, it seemed to have tons of liquid around it. I followed the directions and used the butter and flour, but it never thickened up. We finally just ate it. My man loved it. He has always loved french food. The liquor flavor was really strong to me. While I thought it was okay, I will probably not make this dish again because for all the trouble it was, it wasn't that good. Or maybe me being under the weather caused my brain to disfunction?

Try it for yourself though and let me know how you like it. You can get the recipe on page 116 of the Back to Basics book.

Comments

Cathy said…
I thought the liquor flavor was too strong too. And I forgot numerous ingredients at the grocery store. And my stew never thickened either. And I can't shake this damn cold and I think it's now bronchitis (but it still sounds like you are much worse off than I am in that department). It sounds like we are aligned in all of the bad ways this week! I'm glad that your hubs liked it anyway! And your presentation is really beautiful!
December 10, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Anonymous said…
The pan frying step is great since it gives the chicken a roasted flavor and keeps it from coming out of the pot bright purple! I love a good wine, but I agree there was a weeeee bit too much of a wine flavor in this. And my sauce was too thin also. I was thinking next time I would separate out the liquids and boil them down til thick. A bit of beef broth in that extra step might cut the wine flavor.
December 11, 2008 at 11:24 AM
chocolatechic said…
I thought it was just perfect.

We loved it.
December 11, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Linds said…
Sorry you didn't like it; it still looks delicious! I hope you feel better soon!
December 11, 2008 at 5:54 PM
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