I recently joined in with a group of fun foodie blogger to participate in a recipe challenge. Lina over at Lin’s Recipes “challenged” us to choose from a list of exotic recipes from around the world we had never made before so that we could all expand our food horizon’s beyond our own country. I read through the list then sheepishly asked if I could use a post from a couple of years ago, because hey, at that time it WAS new to me! She graciously agreed. Thank you Lina!
Head on over to the Rare Recipe Challenge to see what others have made! The cooks have a week to add their entry, so check back often to see new recipes added throughout the week.
Thank you Lina for creating this fun challenge for the month of January (new year, new recipes!), and a great big thanks to Jhuls for judging the entries. She can be found over at thenotsocreativecook.wordpress.com .
So without further adieu, I bring to you my story of cooking the French dish Coq au Vin!
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After feeding our foreign exchange student a healthy (or unhealthy you might say) dose of American food, I decided to surprise her one night with a traditional French dish. She walked into the kitchen and I motioned her over to the crock pot. I lifted the lid and said, “Tah Da! I made you Coq au Vin!” She had a very puzzled look on her face. I said it again nice and slow, like this: “COKE UHH VEEEEEN.” Blank look. “You know, chicken in wine!”
“Ohhhh, yes, yes. It’s Coh ah Vah,” she replied. There is barely a hint of the k and n sound, but I could not seem to quite get that part right and we had a few giggles at my poor attempts. So after I thoroughly corrupted the French pronunciation, I was hoping I didn’t do the same to the meal. For one, I couldn’t find a true Burgundy wine at the store, so settled on a Pinot Noir. I also knew my daughter wouldn’t eat the mushrooms in it, so added some baby carrots. I did, however, ask Caroline what the French typically served the dish over — potatoes or noodles? She said potatoes, so then I asked her if they were boiled or mashed? Another puzzled look from her then had me pantomiming round circles for boiled and banging my fist on the table to simulate mashing. Ahh, the second one, mashed potatoes!
After her bowl was filled twice and mopped dry with thick slices of French bread, I can say that the meal was a success! This dish is typically made with skin-on chicken thighs and legs, but all I had were large, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. So I lopped them in half, and hoped they wouldn’t come out too dry. I think using a slow cooker helped retain some of the juiciness but I think next time I would cook them only about 3 hours on high instead of 4 hours. But I was very satisfied with the results, and now I know how to properly pronounce this lovely meal even if I can’t actually say it right.
Coq au Vin (Chicken in Wine)
4 slices of bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken, skin on or skinless
1/4 cup flour, divided
Ground black pepper, to taste
Mrs. Dash or salt, to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
8 ounces frozen pearl onions, thawed
8 ounces small button mushrooms
2 cups whole baby carrots
1 1/2 cups red wine
1/2 cup homemade or low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
Fresh parsley, chopped
Mashed potatoes and French bread, for serving
Cook the bacon in a large skillet, remove from heat, and drain bacon on paper towels. Leave about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease in the skillet, or if you used lean bacon then add some vegetable oil to make up for it. Season the chicken with pepper and Mrs. Dash or salt, to taste. Dust the chicken pieces with 1/8 cup flour, reserving the rest, and add the chicken to the skillet over medium high heat. Brown the chicken for several minutes on each side. Remove and set aside on a plate.
Add the tablespoon of oil to the skillet over medium heat, stir in the rest of the flour, then add in the pearl onions and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker, add the baby carrots, then return skillet to heat. Deglaze the pan with the wine and chicken broth, scraping up all the yummy brown bits.
Whisk in the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves. Cook and stir for about 5 more minutes and turn off heat. Place the chicken over the vegetables in the crock pot, add the bacon on top, then pour the wine mixture over all. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or low 6 to 8 hours.
Make your mashed potatoes in the last half hour or so of cooking and keep over low heat until ready to serve. Spoon mashed potatoes into bowls, top with the chicken and vegetables plus juices, and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Have lots of thick-sliced French bread for sopping up all the savory juices. Enjoy!
Well done, Kathryn! I remember when I was a kid I often heard the name on TV shows, but I never knew what was in the dish. (It seemed like whenever a TV character had a fancy dinner, that’s what was ordered… I guess it was particularly trendy at that time.)
Your story made it a fun culinary adventure. …And now I want wine… 😉 Hugs! 😀
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Yes, I do believe this was trendy back in those days. I don’t remember seeing it offered on a restaurant menu in many, many years. Thank you and hugs back!
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Looks delicious and fairly simple in a slow cooker!
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Yes, the slow cooker sure made it a lot easier than it would have been. Thank you!
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Love it KR! Greatttttttttttttt post! hugs, Cheryl xoxoxoxo
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Thanks so much CCC! Hugs back xoxoxoxo 🙂
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Hey KR I think you need to win this challenge! cccxoxoxoxo
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Well wouldn’t that be fun?!?!
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Yes but I guess I better say that to everyone who entered this challenge or I’d be partial???? CCC xo
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😉
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Yep-guess so….CCC xoxo
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xoxoxoxo
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Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine and commented:
It has been a while since I tried anything fancy and I am horrible with the picture taking. But my go to fancy for a while was Cordon bleu. Learned to make that when I lived in Germany.
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Thank you so much for the reblog ravenshawk. Cordon Bleu is another lovely dish.
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I love coq au vin!!!
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YAY! Glad to hear that!
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I’d say you met the challenge! I make this dish about once a year and it never looks quite as delicious as the one you’re featuring here.
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Why thank you very much Adam! It is hard to make a stew-like dish look tasty. Not quite sure how I pulled it off that time. 🙂
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This looks wonderful and fancy! Love it KR!!!
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Thanks so much Lynn!!!
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I have not heard of this for years but looks so yummy!
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I know, it was very trendy back in the day. Maybe I’ll inspire others to bring this dish back into favor! I’m going to have to make this again, thank you!
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Yes i think that would be cool! I love those older recipes. Different and classic
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Gorgeous!!! Absolutely love the story of you trying to pronounce Coq au Vin to the foreign exchange student, even more impressive is you making a french dish for her! Hats off to you!
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Yes, it was pretty funny. And thank you so much! I was very impressed with your recipe too!
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This looks great Kathryn!! I’ve never heard about this dish until Lina posted about it! You executed it brilliantly 🙂
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Thank you so much Freda! It’s fun to learn a new recipe from another country!
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Well I took on a recipe from my own country, Kathryn and still had to do so much reserach !! I still have no idea how those kebabs taste, On my next trip to India, I really have to make it a point to have some!
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Looks and sounds amazing. Something I’ve never made!
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Thank you Jodi! I’ll have to make it again soon!
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Yummmm! The photos are great too! I am not even hungry and I a thinking I wouldn’t mind a little bite now just to try it! 👍
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Thank you so much Natascha! I am hungry right now and wish I had this in the slow cooker for tonight. 🙂
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This looks fabulous, almost too pretty to eat!! What a wonderful entry, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much Jess!
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It looks delicious! I also enjoyed cooking my recipe for the Rare Recipe Challenge, it was fun!
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I’ll have to go look for it! Is it posted yet?
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Yes, it is 🙂
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Very interesting
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Thank you!
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The coq ah vin has turned out amazing! I totally loved the post!! Very well presented and beautifully explained…the food looks absolutely delightful to me… I’m so happy the foreign exchange student liked it..I was so wrong about the pronounciation too..xD…Thanks for participating! It was great to have you ☺☺
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I completely know what you mean about the pronunciation!! I had it ALL WRONG. We giggled a lot about it, and her teaching me. Thank you so much for letting me participate!
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I am only glad u participated!
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This is something I have never tried before. I don’t use alcohol in my dishes, but I bet the wine makes this dish 23x even better. What I love about this chosen dish of yours from the Rare Recipe Challenge is that this looks and sounds very fancy, but it is very easy to do. Slow cooker makes everything good and easy. 😀 Thank you for taking part of the challenge and thank you for the mention. 🙂
Looking forward for more adventures and challenging recipes. 😉
x Jhuls
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Thank you so much for being the judge for this! I appreciate you taking the time to read through my recipe and your very nice comments. ~ Kathryn
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I like your story and your version of coq-au-vin 🙂
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Thanks so much JuJu!
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What a fun story and one of my favorite dishes 🙂 I always have a hard time finding a good Burgundy wine too and often use Pinot Noir as well. My question is WHERE did you find the frozen pearl onions?!?! I have searched high and low in every freezer section in the area…. Needless to say I usually end up peeling fresh ones… which is always fun.
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Oh no Mel, I can’t imagine trying to peel that many pearl onions, ACK! I just found them at Albertson’s, which is a local grocery chain. In the freezer section, probably next to the peas or something like that. You mean HEB doesn’t carry these??
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Haha we have Albertson’s down here too and no luck! I’ve even checked the “fancy” specialty grocery stores and no luck. I guess people on Texas have no use for pearl onions… Sometime even finding the fresh ones can be a challenge.
Anyways I enjoys this post 🙂
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Interesting! And thank you!
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Great article! Love the use of the slow cooker. I love French one pot comfort foods, so easy and delicious. Cheers!
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Cheers back! Clink!
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I LOVE Coq au Vin! I’ve never tried the slow cooker… brilliant! 😉
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Thank you Sadie! It sure made it much easier. 🙂
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Thanks for the recipe! I believe I’ve had this somewhere back in my much younger days, but I’ve never cooked it myself. Looks awesome!
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Thank you so much g&g!
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Fabulous and delicious. Such a wonderful classic French dish and you have done a beautiful job of making it. It looks delicious and it’s been years since I’ve made this. Now I need to get all the ingredients and make it also!
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I know, it kind of went by the wayside over the years, didn’t it? Thank you!
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Sure did and this is a great revival!
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🙂 glad i’m not the only one who’s mispronounced it – “COKE UHH VEEEEEN”
this looks great Kathryn
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LOL, whew! I had no clue! Thanks TIM.
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Yum, yum and yum….looks divine and well done. 🙂 I am always keen to use my slow cooker, so thanks for the added recipe 🙂
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Slow cookers can be my lifesaver on busy days. You are welcome and thank you too for the nice comment! 🙂
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You are so welcome. I thoroughly enjoy your blog x
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Thank you Lynne, and I enjoy yours too!
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Very nice. Loved your write up especially the French Pronounciation..Slow cookers are my life savers too. Great recipe
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Thank you so much for stopping by Vidhya and for the nice comment!
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How very fancy and French!! 🙂
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Great choice and you did it proud! Your substitutions made sense. What good is following a recipe only to have family members give it a thumbs down? Some 30+ years ago, I had a recipe for coq au vin. To give you an idea of just how old it was, an electric fry pan was used to prepare it. The recipe,much like the fry pan, disappeared ages ago. I think this recipe will make a fine replacement. Thanks!
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You are most welcome John! I cannot imagine trying to cook a dish of that magnitude in an electric fry pan. And yes, I do know what that is. 😀
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Looks and sounds so delicious!!! Love coq au vin and your little story too! 🙂
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Thank you so much Lili!
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