Great recipe, Julia! Nice layers and depth of flavors. I made this utilizing 9 skin-on, bone-in hen thighs. I seasoned the thighs with salt and pepper earlier than browning them in a Dutch oven as a result of that appeared to make extra sense than seasoning them afterward.
After browning the hen thighs in batches, I browned the pearl onions within the bacon grease blended with the fats from the hen thighs. There was an excessive amount of hen fats left within the pot, in addition to a charred buildup, so we cleaned the pan earlier than including the Armagnac, igniting it, and continuing with the recipe.
I used 2 cups Syrah for the crimson wine, since Syrah is among the grapes utilized in Côtes du Rhône. When it got here to lastly simmering the hen, the thighs had been completed after 20 minutes. The onions weren’t fairly completed at this level, so I eliminated the hen, added the mushrooms, and simmered for about 3 to 4 minutes extra. I allowed every little thing to chill down, put the hen again into the pot, and put the pot into the fridge.
The following day I took the pot out a few hours earlier than dinner to let every little thing come as much as room temperature earlier than reheating. There was no congealed fats on the floor of the stew. I feel that cleansing out the pot after browning the hen and the onions was the way in which to go.
I let every little thing heat up very, very slowly on a simmer setting. I made velvet mashed potatoes utilizing a ricer in order that they had been extraordinarily silky and creamy.
Julia Little one’s coq au vin served over the mashed potatoes was, in a phrase, succulent. By the way in which, I added extra mushrooms and pearl onions than the recipe referred to as for, and we hungered for much more. This was a phenomenal dish served with multi-colored child carrots.
We had an Oregon medium-bodied pinot with this dish. It was a good selection, as a result of it let the coq au vin shine by itself. A much bigger wine would’ve overpowered it.
