Chicken Thighs Au Vin

Coq au Vin for din. pic.twitter.com/YPF8CjCXF4

— bspencer (@vacuumslayer) September 22, 2014

The chickens in france… are drunk. @vacuumslayer oh please I hope you share your recipe.

— otherchuchu (@nongnonghead) September 22, 2014

So here’s my recipe for Chicken Thighs Au Vin. Word of warning: I don’t measure when I cook. As I do not follow recipes for dishes like this, it may deviate a bit from proper Coq Au Vin, so spare me any foodnerd pedantry.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 bone-in chicken thighs, most skin removed (I don’t mind if there are bits and pieces here and there), dredged in flour and salted and peppered
• 3 slices bacon
• 8 oz. container mushrooms, cleaned and halved
• 1-2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 medium onions, cut into big chunks
• 5-7 carrots, cut into big chunks on the diagonal
• 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed
• a generous pinch of Herbs de Provence
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2-2 cups red wine (I know it’s customary to use considerably more wine…even a whole bottle, but I find drowning food in liquids makes for unsatisfactory sauces)

1. Preheat oven to 250.
2. Cut bacon into lardon and render fat in a dutch oven, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Brown chicken in bacon fat. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Brown mushrooms in pan. You may have to add some oil to the pan at this point. Put mushrooms in pan and LEAVE THEM ALONE. Just let them brown on one side, then stir them around and let them brown some more. DO NOT SALT THEM.
5. Add the tomato paste, onions, carrots and the garlic last so you don’t burn it. Salt and pepper generously. Get the wine ready to deglaze.
6. Stir in the wine, herbs and chicken stock; let this mixture come to a near-boil. Lower the heat and nestle the thighs in the veggies and sauce.
7. Top with the lardon, cover the pot and put it in the oven for about 3 hours.

Serve chicken and veggies over mashed potatoes, egg noodles or with crusty bread.