Coq au vin, simplified

***RECIPE, SERVES 4***

12 oz (350g) bacon (ideally slab bacon)
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1.5-2 lbs (0.7-1 kg)
flour (a big pinch)
1 oz (30g) dried mushrooms
1 tbsp (15 ml) tomato paste
1 cup (250 ml) red wine
1-2 cups (250-500 ml) chicken stock or water
1-2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence (or any combination of dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc)
1 cup frozen peeled pearl onions (I have no idea what you want to call that in metric)
pepper
salt
vinegar
12 oz (350g) dried egg noodles
1 tbsp (15g) butter
fresh parsley or tarragon for garnish

Cut the bacon into chunks, ideally big bite-size chunks from a piece of slab bacon. Put it into a large, cold pan with a lid, then turn the heat on medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy — up to a half hour if you've got thick chunks.

Coat the chicken thighs in a dusting of flour.

Break up and very large chunks of the dried mushrooms, accounting for the fact that they'll double in size when rehydrated. (Be warned that some dried mushrooms will have some little worms in them. Seriously. Don't freak out, it's normal, they won't hurt anything, but ideally take them out.) Follow the steeping and filtering instructions on the package if you want to make sure there won't be any grains of sand on them, but I don't care.

If you want to take some of the bacon fat out, fish out the bacon with the slotted spoon and pour of some of the fat. I leave it in, and just push the bacon over to the side. Fry the chicken thighs in the bacon fat until brown on both sides. Make a well in the center and squeeze in the tomato paste. Fry it until it's about to burn, then deglaze with the red wine.

Pour in enough water or stock to almost cover the chicken. Put in the dried mushrooms, dried herbs, some pepper, and a pinch of salt (assuming you aren't using salt pork like I do). Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.

After about a half hour, consider removing the lid if the sauce is looking too loose to you. When the sauce is reduced to your desired thickness and the chicken is as soft as you want it, stir in the frozen onions and let them thaw. When they're ready, taste the sauce for seasoning, and add any additional salt it needs. Also drop in a splash of any vinegar. Take care to not break up the chicken as you stir in the final seasoning.

Meanwhile, boil your egg noodles in salted water per the package instructions, drain, put the butter in with them and let it melt. Right before serving, tear some fresh parsley or tarragon into the noodles and stir to combine.

[aragusea]

Q: What if I don't eat bacon?
A: A phenomenal replacement for bacon in almost any recipe is duck prosciutto. I see that it's available at several halal and kosher stores online. Great stuff.

Q: What if I don't want to use wine?
A: I normally recommend replacing it with water/stock spiked with balsamic vinegar (about 1 part vinegar to 6 parts water/stock). That might make this particular dish taste weirdly Italian instead of French, but is that necessarily a bad thing? You could also use a cup of purple grape juice spiked with maybe a teaspoon of vinegar (any vinegar). Grape juice could be a little too sweet, so maybe start with less than a cup and add some more at the end to taste. You'll def need the vinegar, regardless, but my recipe calls for some vinegar at the end anyway.

Q: Isn't coq au vin traditionally dependent on the fond you get from browning the chicken, browning the bacon, browning the mushrooms, and browning the onions?
A: Yep, but as I said, this is a streamlined version that takes less time and dirties fewer dishes. I think using dried mushrooms more than makes up for the lack of mushroom fond — dried mushrooms are extremely strong. And like I said about the onions, by the time they got covered in sauce, I think they tasted virtually the same as if you'd browned them in a pan. But if you want to try it the traditional way, go for it!

Q: Wait, is your new kitchen done already?
A: Nope, I shot four weeks worth of recipes before the demolition.

[OfficalYungRadio]

“Yes Adam finally got a wine sponsor” made me smile a lot lol

[rsolsjo]

"I like big chewy hunks"

- Adam Ragusea, 2020

[technodruid]

herb de provence is good in stews, soups, roasted vegtables, even on vegetarian pizza! Way more uses than just this recipe.

[nathanh]

Hey Adam, I am 15 and you have taught me so much and you helped me improved my cooking skills! Thank you!

[SSVCloud]

Every Adam video (and I say this from a place of love): "You could do work. I don't."

[sebastianguerra]

Adam is quickly becoming my favorite youtube chef, along with Chef John. Don't get me wrong, I love other chefs, like Babish for example, but I feel like Adam is closer to how common people actually cook. Common people like me, who don't have time to try complicated methods, money to buy expensive stuff, or the will or skill to the most complex recipes. The Babish or Weissman version of this recipe would probably feature stuff like black garlic made over a month with a dehydrator or a series of many steps to build layers of flavor. And don't get me wrong, that would probably be delicious, maybe even better than Adam's version. But I'm much more likely to try a recipe that's quick, good, cheap and easy to make, and that's Adam's.

[BrosMinecraft]

Adam: “we will drink the rest at dinner”
Adam’s kids: *mhm*

[LegacyFarmandHomestead]

I loved the end with your wife. This is why I love cooking so much. Its a great way to share your love and be able to travel to different parts of the world without ever leaving your house.

[ec]

Love the "cut to the chase" style of these videos. It's so easy to pause them and come back because you're right at the next step as you cook.

[emmanuelnyamaaro]

This is so fancy, I didn’t even know this existed.

[clement]

Awesome ! I'm a Frenchman but i'm very happy to learn from someone that's a much better cook than me :) Thank you very much mr. Ragusea

[letegeuse]

I made this for my D&D group, and they loved it. The only change that I made was that I used fresh mushrooms instead of dried mushrooms.

[FauxReal]

I've been "the cook" for 20+ years. My life is changed after making this and sharing with the family. Flavor was absolutely off the chart.

[lilynoir]

"You need slab bacon" *smiles in Canadian*

[vikrambala]

"Contrary to popular belief, I almost always drink red"
First of all how dare you

[GlinkBetweenWorlds]

typing this with my left hand because i foolishy burned my right hand after grabbing a pan of mushrooms that was cooking in the oven while making this recipe. Moral of the story: use dried mushrooms instead.

[Ealsante]

I love how Lauren, novelist that she is, describes almost all the flavours not in direct terms but as images and metaphors. It's beautiful.

[Kuuwwaa]

Adam : uses red wine


Viewers : stop! you have violated the law!

[philipnotphillip]

Adam: "Contrary to popular belief, I almost always drink white though I'll take a nice red here or there when the sun gets cold. Long live the Empire."