Coq au Vin

Coq au Vin

The guinea pig's parents came to visit us this weekend.  Dad set aside his love of crab cakes for one night and let me cook dinner.  It helped that they were here for more than a night this time and we could go out one night and I could cook the next.

As we looked through a few recipes I had picked out to make this week, mom and I settled on the Coq au Vin.  It was extra appealing that the recipe was touting its quickness to prepare.  For the most part, it was quick and easy.  It took a little longer, however, than the 45 minutes promised.

As with most recipes, I changed a few things a bit.  I sliced the mushrooms into quarters and the shallots into sixths.  I cooked them separately to ensure shallots would cook through and get nicely caramelized before I added the mushrooms into the mix.  I used all wine (Yellowtail Cabernet Sauvignon) instead of half wine and half chicken broth.

My preparation method varied as well from the recipe.  I didn't cook the chicken until the sauce was almost done and I reduced the sauce quite a bit.  I had a lot of bacon fat in the pan and I reserved half of it for cooking the chicken later in a separate pan.  My chicken breasts must have on the larger side, because it took a lot longer than the suggested 6 minutes per side to cook them through.

I served the chicken with a side of simple mashed potatoes and spooned the sauce on top of both.  Using extra thick bacon was great.  It carried the taste through rather than getting lost in the wine flavor.  The sauce came out nice and thick and didn't run or turn the potatoes pink.

Even though I'm not a fan of huge chunks of meat, I enjoyed the dish.  I might consider multiple smaller portions of chicken, possibly pounded or tenderized in some other way, next time I make it.  Parents were happy with the meal, on the whole.  My guinea pig should be devouring left overs any moment now.