Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin is a great way to enjoy a warming dish. I have made it in some intense restaurants that finished with pigs blood, fresh pasta or silky smooth potato puree, and always braised with a strong quality veal stock for full richness and a red wine and port reduction steeped with shallot, garlic, herbs, and peppercorns.
But at home, this is the classic – tender, rich and winey, and full of chunky vegetables that are part of the real rustic experience. With simply buttered spaetzle, it’s a wonderful meal – the leftovers are even better the next day.
The spaetzle can also be made up to 3 days in advance and reheated as needed. If you really need it at your fingertips, the spaetzle can be cooked, laid out on a parchment lined tray to freeze, and stored in a container to warm up portions whenever you feel like it.
Coq au Vin and Buttered Spaetzle
Category
Main Course
Servings/Yield
4
Author
Helen Park
Coq au Vin is a great way to enjoy a warming dish. I have made it in some intense restaurants that finished with pigs blood, fresh pasta or silky smooth potato puree, and always braised with a strong quality veal stock for full richness and a red wine and port reduction steeped with shallot, garlic, herbs, and peppercorns.
But at home, this is the classic – tender, winey, and full of chunky vegetables that are part of the real rustic experience. With simply buttered spaetzle, it’s a wonderful meal – the leftovers are even better the next day.
The spaetzle can also be made up to 3 days in advance and reheated as needed. If you really need it at your fingertips, the spaetzle can be cooked, laid out on a parchment lined tray to freeze, and stored in a container to warm up portions whenever you feel like it.
Ingredients
4 pounds chicken thigh, bone in skin on
½ pound slab bacon, cut into 1” pieces
1 pound button mushroom, cleaned and large ones cut in half
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1” chunks
1 pound pearl or cippolini onion, peeled
2 ribs celery, cut into 1” pieces
3 cloves garlic, sliced
-
Salt to taste
-
Ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup tomato paste
½ cup all-purpose or gluten-free flour
2 cups full bodied red wine
1 cup ruby port
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 small sprigs fresh rosemary
Oil for searing chicken
2 large eggs
¾ cup water
-
½ tsp Baharat
1/8tsp baking soda
-
1 Tbsp olive oil
-
1 tsp fine sea salt
-
½ tsp black pepper, ground
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup parsley, roughly chopped
1 batch of Spaetzle
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a heavy bottom skillet or Dutch oven, I used a 12” pan, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan until just shimmering.
Blot the skin side of each chicken thigh and lay them into the hot pan and allow to render thoroughly on the skin side. This will make the sauce more flavorful from browning and the skin texture will be more delicious from rendering. Be sure to brown them in batches, removing the fully rendered thighs as you go.
Into the pan full of rendered chicken fat, add the bacon and mushrooms and continue cooking over medium-high heat as the turn golden brown on all sides. Remove the pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the carrot, celery, garlic, and onions to the pan of fat and continue roasting until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
When ready, you can drain off any excess fat, leaving ½ cup in the pan - I like to keep it all in until the end.
Add in the tomato paste and stir well to combine.
Next add the flour and stir well to combine.
Add in 1 cup of red wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits to get them back into the sauce.
Add the remaining wine, port, bacon, mushrooms, thyme, rosemary, and chicken and bring everything to boil. Note the level of liquid should just come to cover the tops of the chicken thighs. If more liquid is need, add a little chicken stock or water.
Transfer the pan carefully to the preheated oven and braised for 1 hour, or until chicken and bacon are fully tender.
While the chicken is braising, bring a large pot of salted water, half full, to boil. The pot should be slightly smaller than your spaetzle maker so you can rest it on top.
Measure the spaetzle ingredients, except for butter and parsley, into a bowl and whisk to just combine. The batter should be a little lumpy like pancake mix.
Once the pot of water has come to the boil, lay your spaetzle maker on top of the pot and push 1/3 of the mixture through the holes, using long strokes with the plastic scraper. The water should be simmering but not boiling like crazy. Boiling the spaetzle too hard or too long can make them tough and/or fall apart.
Tap the spaetzle maker against the top of the pot (to make any hanging batter fall in) and set it aside.
Remove the spaetzle, draining well, as they float. They cook quickly so they may already be floating. Give the water a gentle stir to make sure the spaetzle have all been poached (and not piling on top of each other).
Add them to a large pan with the 2 tablespoons of butter. Continue with 2 more small batches until all of the remaining batter is cooked.
When the chicken is ready, remove the pan from the oven and set aside to rest.
Warm the spaetzle and gently fold through with butter and season with black pepper and salt to taste. You may need a splash of the spaetzle water to loosen the mixture and some low heat in case the spaetzle has cooled while waiting.
Finish with parsley andserve with the coq au vin and plenty of sauce.
Note: once the chicken, vegetables, and spaetzle have been plated, skim off any excess fat from the pan if needed and bring the pan to a full boil while stirring to bring the sauce together for a rich and glazy finish to spoon over your plates of glorious Coq au Vin and Buttered Spaetzle!
Recipe Note
Recipe Notes
The recipe also works well for whole cut up chicken. Make sure to cut the bone in breast pieces in half to even out the pieces for cooking.
The dish can also be made fully on the stovetop. I prefer to use the oven for the all-around heat and to make the skin delicious as it braises uncovered.
The spaetzle should be cooked once it is mixed - you can cook and cool it to keep for later.
Reminder: the spaetzle can be made up to 3 days in advance and reheated as needed.
To have it at your fingertips, the spaetzle can be made, laid out on a parchment lined tray to freeze, and kept in a container in the freezer to warm up portions whenever you feel like it.
The recipe doubles well for a larger group.
There are a few ways you can shape the spaetzle. The round type that fits over a pot with the large holes is the best home one I’ve used. You will also need a stiff dough scraper (usually comes with it but make sure) and a spider or skimmer to lift the spaetzle out of the boiling water.
Usage Ideas
Instead of spaetzle, you could also whip together a batch of mashed potatoes.
We also have a gluten-free spaetzle recipe.
Questions? Contact helen@laboiteny.com
