Martin Hollis, executive chef at the Old Course in St Andrews, cooks up a warming chicken dish for a winter’s night
At this time of year, there is nothing nicer than coming home to a lovely warming and comforting dish and coq au vin ticks all the boxes for me. It turns out what we think of as an age-old classic peasant dish may be a lot more recent than we think – and a lot less humble and peasant-like in character.
It would appear that the first documented written recipe for a coq au vin-like dish surfaced in an English cookbook published in 1864. This “original” recipe, featured in Cookery for English Households, by a French Lady was called Poulet Au Vin Blanc, and calls for the chicken to be boiled with various herbs, not in red wine but in water laced with a tumbler of white Burgundy wine. Oh and then there is the small matter of the three or four truffles added to the pot. Not very humble and peasant-like now, is it?
I hope you enjoy my version of coq au vin – it makes six portions. Marinate six trimmed and jointed chicken legs, four finely chopped onions and 200g of smoked bacon trimmings or pancetta in 1l of red wine. Drain the legs and reserve the wine. Coat the legs in 200g plain flour and shake to remove any excess.
In a heavy-based pan heat 80ml vegetable or sunflower oil and when hot, add the chicken legs and cook until golden brown. Remove the chicken and add the rest of the oil to the pan. Add the onion and bacon trimmings and allow to caramelise. Add teh chicken, six cloves of garlic finely chopped, one bouquet garni, wine and stock to the pan and bring to the boil, skim and allow to simmer for one hour – do not overcook.
Remove the chicken from the pan and pass the sauce through a sloth or fine sieve, then reduce until glossy.
Adjust the seasoning and pour over the chicken legs and reserve for service. Fry the lardons, 200g mushrooms and the onions in the oil then add to the chicken and finish with chopped parsley.
Serve with a mash or gnocchi.
Chef’s tip
The general rule of cooking with alcohol applies here: Do NOT cook with something you wouldn’t drink.
