TRADITIONAL COQ AU VIN RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• Season chicken with 2 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a large bowl, combine chicken, wine, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or, even better, overnight.
• In a large Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, cook lardons over medium-low heat until fat has rendered, and lardons are golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer lardons to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in pot.
• Remove chicken from wine, reserving the marinade. Pat chicken pieces with paper towels until very dry. Heat lardon fat over medium heat until it’s just about to smoke. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken in a single layer and cook until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. (Add oil if the pot looks a little dry.) Transfer chicken to a plate as it browns.
• Add diced onion, carrot, half the mushrooms and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to pot. Cook until vegetables are lightly browned, about 8 minutes, stirring up any brown bits from the pot, and adjusting heat if necessary to prevent burning.
• Stir in garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then stir in flour and cook for another minute. Remove from heat, push vegetables to one side of pot, pour brandy into empty side, and ignite with a match. (If you’re too nervous to ignite it, just cook brandy down for 1 minute.) Once the flame dies down, add reserved marinade, bring to a boil, and reduce halfway (to 1 1/2 cups), about 12 minutes. Skim off any large pockets of foam that form on the surface.
• Add chicken, any accumulated juices and half the cooked lardons to the pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, turning halfway through. Uncover pot and simmer for 15 minutes to thicken. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick or other large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pearl onions, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, shaking skillet often to move onions around. Uncover, push onions to one side of skillet, add remaining mushrooms, and raise heat to medium-high. Continue to cook until browned, stirring mushrooms frequently, and gently tossing onions occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove onions and mushrooms from skillet, and wipe it out.
• In same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until bubbling. Add bread and toast on all sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side. (Adjust heat if needed to prevent burning.) Remove from skillet and sprinkle with salt.
• To serve, dip croutons in wine sauce, then coat in parsley. Add pearl onions, mushrooms and remaining half of the cooked lardons to the pot. Baste with wine sauce, sprinkle with parsley and serve with croutons on top.

Steps:

• Pat chicken dry with paper towels; season aggressively with salt and pepper. Transfer chicken to a 1-gallon resealable bag or an 8x8" glass baking dish. Pour wine over, then add ½ bunch thyme. Turn to coat, seal bag or cover baking dish, and let sit at room temperature while you prep the other ingredients. (Or, chill up to 48 hours.)
• Cook bacon in a 10" or 12" nonstick skillet, preferably not cast iron, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until brown and crisp but all of the fat hasn’t rendered out, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. (Medium heat lets you work in batches without having to worry about scorching your pan, and you’ll eventually use all the browned bits to build a deeply flavored braising liquid.)
• Add mushrooms to bacon drippings in pan; season with salt. Cook, tossing occasionally, until tender and golden brown but not crisp, about 6 minutes. Scrape mushrooms into Instant Pot insert and reserve pan.
• Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and place on a large plate; reserve marinade but pluck out and discard thyme sprigs. Pat chicken skin dry with paper towels. Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in reserved pan over medium. If you’re using a 10" skillet, you’ll have to do this in 2 batches, but chicken should all fit in a larger pan. As soon as butter is foaming, add chicken, placing skin side down, and cook, undisturbed, until skin is dark golden brown and plenty of fat is cooked out, 10–12 minutes. Turn onto flesh side and cook until pale golden brown underneath, about 2 minutes. Nestle chicken into pot insert.
• Pour off all but about 1 Tbsp. accumulated drippings in pan (save it—this is a cross between clarified butter and schmaltz and can be used to sauté or roast basically anything). Add carrots, shallots, and garlic; season lightly with salt. Cook, tossing often, until shallots are golden brown in spots, about 4 minutes. Add to pot insert along with half of the reserved bacon.
• Return pan to medium heat and pour in vinegar. Cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add reserved wine marinade and remaining ½ bunch thyme and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pan, until reduced by half, 5–7 minutes.
• Pour liquid over chicken and seal pot. Set for “Pressure Cook,” high, 15 minutes. Let natural release 10 minutes, then unseal.
• Meanwhile, smash flour and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter together with a fork in a small bowl until well combined.
• Transfer chicken legs and vegetables to a platter or plates. Pluck out and discard thyme sprigs from liquid. Add butter-flour mixture to liquid and whisk to melt. Bring to a simmer on high “Sauté” setting and cook to thicken sauce, about 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. Stir in parsley.
• Serve coq au vin with braising liquid poured over and all around. Sprinkle remaining reserved bacon over.