Servings:

6

Coq au vin is a rich chicken stew made with red wine, bacon, mushrooms, and a touch of Cognac. It’s a classic French recipe that always impresses, fancy enough for a dinner party but easy enough for a weekend meal. Whenever you serve it, be sure to have mashed potatoes or plenty of crusty bread to sop up the rich, velvety sauce. We use chicken legs and thighs rather than a whole chicken to streamline prep, otherwise our version of this crowd-pleasing dish is pretty traditional. It’s easy to make and takes about an hour and a half to cook, but you do need to allow time for the chicken to marinate in red wine.

coq au vin with serving spoon — Yunhee Kim

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Ingredients

4 chicken thighs
4 chicken legs
2 cups full-bodied red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
8 ounces slab bacon, cut into ½-inch dice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, if needed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
10 white pearl onions, peeled
½ pound small cremini mushrooms
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons Cognac
1 chicken liver, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
5 fresh thyme sprigs

Directions

Marinate chicken in wine overnight:

Place chicken in a large bowl, and add wine. Cover, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven; remove chicken from wine and pat dry:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove chicken from wine, and pat dry; reserve wine. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Cook bacon until crisp:

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat until crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate, leaving drippings in pot. (You should have 3 tablespoons; you may need to add oil.)
Brown chicken:

Raise heat to medium-high. Working in batches, cook chicken, flipping once, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
Cook onion, add garlic, then pearl onions and mushrooms:

Add onion to pot, and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes. Add pearl onions and mushrooms, and cook until brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add flour and tomato paste, then Cognac:

Stir in flour and tomato paste, and cook 2 minutes. Add Cognac, and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Add chicken and bacon to pot, pour in reserved wine and herbs:

Return bacon and chicken to pot. Pour in reserved wine, and add chicken liver and herbs. Bring to a simmer.
Transfer to oven to cook:

Cover, and place in oven until chicken has cooked through and vegetables are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Discard herbs, and skim fat from surface before serving.