Chicken Leg Coq au Vin

Serves 6 Prep Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes Wine Pairings: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir

This recipe uses thighs and drumsticks instead of a whole chicken. The dark meat remains juicy and succulent when braised in this recipe. When choosing a cooking wine, selecting an inexpensive but drinkable wine. Poor tasting wine will result in a poor tasting sauce; however, fine wines lose their nuance and character when cooked.

Ingredients

4 chicken leg quarters, thigh and drumstick, separated Fine sea salt Freshly ground black pepper ½ cup canola oil 24 black peppercorns 12 parsley sprigs 4 thyme sprigs 4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 bay leaves 1 (750ml) bottle Pinot Noir 4 cups chicken broth 1 teaspoon fine sea salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ½ pound slab bacon, cut into ½-inch cubes 1 pound cremini mushrooms, halved (or quartered if large) 1 large onion, chopped 1 large carrot, peeled, cut into ½-inch dice 1 celery stalk, cut into ½-inch dice ½ stick of butter 4 tablespoons flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. 2. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. 3. In a braising pot large enough to fit all of the chicken, heat the canola oil over high heat. In batches, sear the chicken until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the seared chicken to a plate and repeat with remaining chicken. Once done discard the excess oil.

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4. Place the peppercorns, parsley, thyme, garlic and bay leaves on a piece of cheesecloth. Gather and secure with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni. 5. Return the chicken to the pot with the wine, broth, bouquet garni, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and place in the oven and cook for 2 hours. 6. Within the first hour of the chicken cooking in the oven, you will need to complete steps 7-10. 7. In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crispy, 10-12 minutes. Once crispy, remove the bacon, but leave the bacon fat in the skillet over medium high meat. 8. Add the mushrooms and sauté until browned (about 5 minutes), then add the onion, celery and carrot and cook until the vegetables are tender (about 5 more minutes), stirring frequently. 9. Add the butter and stir until melted. Mix the flour into the butter until it dissolves. Let this flour vegetable mixture cook for 2 minutes stirring often. 10. Next transfer the flour and vegetable mixture along with the bacon into the Dutch-oven with the chicken. Stir the mixture to dissolve all the flour into the chicken broth. Return it to the oven to cook for the full 2 hours. 11. Remove the Dutch-oven from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving. 12. Serve ladled over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, rice or polenta.

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