2 - Coq au Vin

http://raymondblanc.com/Portals/14/docs/Coq_au_Vin.pdf

http://palinstravels.co.uk/static-7

Phileas Fogg travels through France by rail on his way to Suez.  The map above shows the first part of the route taken by Michael Palin in his take on the famous journey in 1988.

After crossing the channel we are now in France.  My research takes on traditional French cuisine and, through my own knowledge of French food, I begin by looking up Coq au Vin which I have cooked before but never to a recipe.  My version is a regular chicken casserole with red wine so not really authentic at all rather a lazy take on the classic.  I decided to have a go at cooking Raymond Blanc's recipe on the recommendation of my friend whose fiancee is French and often tries out Raymond's food both from cook books and at our local Brasserie Blanc in Milton Keynes.  I've eaten here as well and enjoyed the experience and rich yet delicate flavours very much.

The dish is a fairly simple one but the chicken needs to be marinated for 24hours for the meat to take on the richness of flavour recommended by Raymond.  For this recipe I have used free-range chicken; I always do when cooking chicken and don't understand why people buy free-range eggs but not free-range chicken.  I appreciate that it's more expensive but the size and flavour of the chicken is excellent and well worth the extra pound or two.  I bought 'be good to yourself' smoked bacon to reduce the amount of fat in the recipe and didn't add any of the butter, oil or salt suggested.

I decided to use red onions to add sweetness and colour to the dish and chantenay baby carrots for looks more than anything.  I had some leftover large mushrooms which I sliced instead of using the baby ones.

Getting the marinade ready the night before cooking was a bit of pain as the kitchen smelt lovely and I knew that I wouldn't be enjoying the meal until the following evening.  I prepared the dish as per the recipe and added a free-range chicken stock cube for enhanced flavour as I was concerned that the dish may lack some depth without the butter and lardons.

The sauce needed to be thickened a little so I added some cornflour to create the rich gravy and served it with chunky fresh bread.  The result:  A hearty, warming Coq au Vin with incredibly rich flavours and depth.  Yummy and great for cosy evenings in when it's cold outside.

Bon appétit!