Christoph and Steffi's Food and Travel & Christoph and Steffi's Food and Travel EN DE
Lacquered chicken pieces in dark red wine sauce with pearl onions, mushrooms, and lardons
Photo by Eugene Kim · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Main French European

Coq au vin

Brined chicken, roasted bones, reduced red wine, cognac, lardons, mushrooms, and pearl onions come together in a refined, intensely savoury sauce.

Prep60 min
Cook120 min
Rest240 min
Servings4
Done at74 °C
Cook mode

Adapted for the home kitchen from Fallow's Michelin-technique coq au vin

Ingredients

Written for a 5 L pot

Units
Temperature
Servings
4

Brine and chicken

  • 1 free-range chicken, about 1.8 kg, jointed; carcass reserved
  • 1 L water
  • 50 g fine salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 g black pepper, whole peppercorns, lightly cracked
  • 6 g fresh thyme
  • 30 g plain flour
  • 30 ml neutral oil, for browning the chicken

Sauce and garnish

  • 1 carrot, cut into chunks
  • 2 shallots, cut into chunks
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 125 ml cognac
  • 600 ml dry red wine
  • 300 ml reduced chicken stock
  • 300 ml beef stock
  • 1 bouquet garni
  • 150 g smoked lardons
  • 250 g button mushrooms
  • 15 pearl onions
  • 1 chicken liver, optional (optional)
  • 15 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
A table set for serving
Generated image, not a photograph · AI-generated

Method

  1. Dissolve salt in water with bay, peppercorns, and thyme. Cool. Brine chicken pieces 4 hours in the refrigerator; rinse briefly and dry thoroughly.
  2. Roast the chopped carcass at 180°C until golden, about 35 minutes. Dust chicken lightly with flour and brown skin-side down in oil; remove.
  3. Fry lardons until golden; remove. Brown mushrooms, then pearl onions, and reserve with the bacon.
  4. Sauté carrot and shallots 5 to 7 minutes. Add cognac off the heat, return to heat, and reduce almost dry. Flambé only if experienced and with the extractor fan off.
  5. Add wine and reduce by two-thirds. Add roasted bones, garlic, bouquet garni, and both stocks. Return chicken skin-side up, cover with a cartouche, and simmer gently 20 to 30 minutes until chicken reaches 74°C.
  6. Remove chicken. Strain sauce, discard solids, and reduce until lightly thickened. If using liver, blend it with a ladle of hot sauce, whisk it back over low heat, then strain again; do not boil.
  7. Return chicken, lardons, mushrooms, and onions to warm through. Finish with parsley.

Notes

  • Keep the four-hour brine refrigerated and do not extend it; 5% brine seasons quickly.
  • For alcohol-free cooking, use 750 ml stock plus 100 ml red grape juice and finish with red wine vinegar.
  • Chicken liver enriches the sauce but is optional; cook the finished sauce thoroughly without curdling it.

Sources used

Good with

Sources consulted

From Christoph Mayer

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