Bruschetta and Coq au Vin

We spent a brilliant New Year’s Eve with some friends who have just moved into a new house. Since they weren’t familiar with their kitchen, we offered to cook something to bring with us and ended up settling on coq au vin (similar to this recipe but not completely, I’ll update the recipe at some point). We had originally planned something Thai but we were still at my mum’s without a mortar and pestle and easy access to a Thai supermarkert. This was quicker, easier to source and meant we weren’t doubling up on ingredients that would fill our already bursting cupboards when we got back to London.

We started with a bruschetta of green pesto, mozarella, tomato and basil. Not the satay originally planned to go with the Thai food as we managed to inform our hosts of our menu change just in time.

Happy new year!

Coq au Vin
Served Four

1 whole chicken, jointed with the carcass reserved
250g bacon, chopped (or lardons)
1 large onion, chopped
6 shallots, quartered (or halved if small)
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bottle red wine
300 ml chicken stock
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
Salt and pepper
250g button mushrooms

Season the chicken pieces and then brown them. Remove from the pan and set aside until later.

Fry the bacon until the fat has rendered. Remove from the pan.

Fry onion, shallots and celery until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Add the bacon back to the pan and deglaze with the wine. Add the chicken stock, the carcass and all the other ingredients (apart from the mushrooms) and bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper and then simmer for 20 minutes. Add the browned chicken and mushrooms and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Just before serving, remove the chicken, bacon etc. from the pan so you’re just left with the liquid. Discard the chicken carcass.

Add in a paste of flour and butter, bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes to thicken the sauce.

Return the other ingredients, stir to incorporate and serve.