Coq Au Vin

So I went to see the Julia Child movie, Julie & Julia, over the weekend and came out inspired. I decided to try Julia Child's recipe for Coq au Vin, which I found on the Food Network website:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/chicken-in-red-wine-with-onions-mushrooms-and-bacon-coq-au-vin-recipe/index.html

From start to finish, the dish took three hours to prepare...and it was worth every minute! While I was making the sauce, I found myself making sure it was seasoned properly about every 2 minutes! As amazing as it was and as sacrilegious as it is to defy Julia Child, there are some adjustments that I would make the next time I prepare the recipe just to make life easier, as well as some timing tips:

1. Instead of using a whole frying chicken, I would use chicken breasts or legs depending on you preference for white or dark meat. Personally I love the dark meat of chicken legs so I would use those, however breasts are definitely easier to eat daintily. Another thing to keep in mind when choosing what part of the chicken you want use is that drumsticks will include bones that add more flavour, whereas breasts may not.

2. I used brandy instead of cognac in the sauce because it's not as expensive and it was still wonderful.

3. After adding the wine and seasonings (tomato paste, garlic, herbs) to the chicken, instead of letting the meat cook in the stock for 20-25 minutes, I would only let it cook for 5-10 minutes. I found that the chicken was slightly dry and overcooked when I let it simmer for so long in the stock. You have to remember that the meat will continue to cook even when you remove it from the heat and it will cook again when it is put back into the reduced sauce. But you should still check to make sure that it cooked entirely so that you don't serve raw chicken!

4. I used 3 three small white onions instead of pearl onions because that's what I had and it worked out well. With respect to timing, the onions can be peeled (and chopped) while the bacon is cooking in the water.

5. The mushrooms can be prepared while the sauce is reducing since this takes the most time. When browning the mushrooms, remember "not to crowd the mushrooms or they will not brown properly!" I browned a handful of mushrooms at a time, switching them with uncooked mushrooms once they were nicely browned then put everything back in the pan with the shallots to cook some more.

6. Once the mushrooms were cooked, I braised the onions in water with the herb bouquet. I did not have any cheesecloth lying around so I just wrapped the herbs in a little packet using a paper towel and some twine.

7. After whisking in the beurre manie, I still found the sauce to be a little thin so I added some dissolved cornstarch to thicken it a little more, however this can be adjusted to your liking.

8. When I was ready to serve dinner, I added the chicken back into the sauce to simmer for a few minutes and at the same time I reheated the mushrooms and onions.

Despite how long it takes to cook down the sauce, this recipe is quite easy to prepare. The name and description is definitely intimidating but once you break it down, it's not that bad. Really, what's three hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon when you get to "test" this phenomenal sauce every couple of minutes and then serve a ridiculously fulfilling dish for dinner. I will warn you though that people will harass you for cooking chicken in red wine because they generally think that chicken only goes with white wine. Kick them. Kick them out of your kitchen and threaten not to let them have any of this delicious meal unless they stop with the blind criticisms. And then rub their faces in it when they have to admit how good chicken tastes in a red wine sauce.

In the words of Julia Child, "Bon appetit!"

P.S. Everyone MUST go see Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep is incredible in the role of Julia Child, but this really isn't a huge surprise...