Fantastic recipe, Julia! Nice layers and depth of flavors. I made this utilizing 9 skin-on, bone-in rooster 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 rooster thighs in batches, I browned the pearl onions within the bacon grease combined with the fats from the rooster thighs. There was an excessive amount of rooster 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 purple wine, since Syrah is without doubt one of the grapes utilized in Côtes du Rhône. When it got here to lastly simmering the rooster, the thighs have been carried out after 20 minutes. The onions weren’t fairly carried out at this level, so I eliminated the rooster, added the mushrooms, and simmered for about 3 to 4 minutes extra. I allowed the whole lot to chill down, put the rooster 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 the whole lot 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 rooster and the onions was the way in which to go.
I let the whole lot heat up very, very slowly on a simmer setting. I made velvet mashed potatoes utilizing a ricer in order that they have been extraordinarily silky and creamy.
Julia Youngster’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 known 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 sensible choice, as a result of it let the coq au vin shine by itself. An even bigger wine would’ve overpowered it.
