This dish definitely makes me want to cook more French food. Maybe partially (or mostly) because of that bacon.
Coq au Vin is a French dish, meaning chicken with wine. Typically it’s cooked with red wine, button mushrooms, bacon and pearl onions. Seeing as I had half a bottle of white wine waiting to be used up; however, I decided to stray from the most traditional version.
When I stumbled upon Nigella Lawson’s recipe for “Coq au Riesling” in the New York Times website, I knew where that white wine was going! Granted, I used Pinot Grigio and didn’t exactly follow her recipe, but it was certainly well-appreciated inspiration.
In addition to using pinot, I also went the less traditional route and used crimini mushrooms and shallots, which I just happen to love. My technique was very deliberate, too. I made sure those chicken skins were dry and exposed throughout the cooking process, which made for some incredibly crispy skin. Not sure what’s my favorite part; the bacon, that sauce or that crispy, chicken skin-goodness. It’s a tough call. What I do know, is you should serve this over something starchy and creamy to soak up those juices. My Pureed Potatoes, would definitely be more French, but my Parmesan Polenta (as seen below) was the perfect compliment in my book.
Coq Au Vin Blanc
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Instead of red wine, I used white in this French classic. Coq Au Vin Blanc is just as good as the original and still includes the bacon and mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1lb)
- 4 oz slab bacon or thick-cut bacon, cut into 陆 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
- 3 medium shallots, sliced
- 戮 cup dry white wine
- 陆 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbsp loosely packed parsley, chopped, divided
- 2 tbsp loosely packed tarragon, chopped, divided
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Prep & heat oven:聽Bring chicken to room temperature for 30-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 375掳F.
- Cook bacon:聽Place bacon in a large, cold, oven-safe saut茅 pan. Cook over medium to medium-low heat for 12-15 minutes or until browned and crisp, lowering heat, if needed, to prevent burning. Remove bacon from pan using a slotted spoon, reserving oil in the pan.
- Brown chicken:聽Keep pan over medium heat. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Add to pan, skin side down, and cook 6-8 minutes or until browned. Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes, remove from pan and set aside.
- Cook mushrooms & shallots:聽Discard all but 2 teaspoons of oil in the pan. Add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add mushrooms and shallots to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and saut茅 5-8 minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown and shallots are translucent.
- 聽Start braise:聽Add wine to the pan, bring to a simmer and reduce slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add bacon and chicken back to pan, skin side up. 聽Add the broth and half of the herbs, making sure the chicken skin is not submerged in the liquid. The liquid should only go up 戮 of the way in order to encourage crispy skin. Bring the mixture to a simmer and transfer the pan to the oven.
- Braise chicken:聽Bake 45-60 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Every 15 minutes or so check if additional liquid is needed (you don鈥檛 want all of the liquid to evaporate). Add additional wine, broth or water as needed, making sure to taste along the way to keep the flavors balanced. If the mixture is too salty, for example, I suggest adding water or wine. Also make sure not to add wine towards the end of the cooking process as it needs to cook out to mellow in flavor.
- Finish & serve:聽Place the pan on the stove top and transfer the chicken to a platter. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the sauce and swirl until melted. Stir in remaining herbs. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. Serve chicken with sauce over my Parmesan Polenta, Pureed Potatoes or side dish of choice. Enjoy.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Category: Main
- Method: Braise
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 thigh with sauce
- Calories: 452
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 419mg
- Fat: 25g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 13g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 29g
That, sure, looks delicious!
Thanks, Liz!
How have I never made Coq au Vin – blanc or rouge! 馃檪 Yours looks like absolute perfection.
Thanks, Marissa! Hope you try this dish one day!
Everything you make looks like something I could only get from a fancy restaurant. Love it! So beautiful & elegant and delicious. If I could just bury my face in that polenta. 馃檪
Aww, that’s incredibly sweet :). Thank you so much, AiPing!
Hey! I love your Blog!! Awesome Recipes too!!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that 馃檪
This looks so delicious, so beautifully photographed as well 馃檪
Thanks so much, Fida!
Looks devine!
Thanks, mom!
Your dish looks beautiful! You’re such a talented photographer, as well!
Thank you, Jasmine! I’ve been trying to improve my photography, so I really appreciate that 馃檪
This has been on my list of things to try making for a while and I just learned a bunch from reading your recipe- thank you for sharing! –Deb
You’re welcome, Deb! Hope you cook up your own version soon!
Beautiful! Yummy!
Thanks, Julie!