Coq au Vin

Although traditionally made with an older bird, this French braise is great with supermarket chicken. You can purchase a whole chicken and cut it up (or have the butcher do so), or start with bone-in parts. Meat on the bone offers more flavor than boneless meat and holds up best in braises. An American pinot noir or French burgundy are tasty choices for this dish. You can serve in a bowl over mashed potatoes to soak up the sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup sauce and 1 breast half or 1 thigh and 1 drumstick)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  red wine
• 1  cup  chopped yellow onion
• 1  cup  chopped carrot
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 2  (8-ounce) chicken breast halves, skinned
• 2  (4-ounce) chicken thighs, skinned
• 2  (4-ounce) chicken drumsticks, skinned
• 1/2  cup  all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
• 3  bacon slices, chopped
• 1/2  cup  pitted dried plums, quartered
• 2  bay leaves
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Preparation

Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl; cover and marinate in refrigerator at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Remove the chicken from marinade, reserving marinade, and pat chicken dry. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge the chicken in flour; set aside.

Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan; set bacon aside. Add half of chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Remove onion and carrot from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving marinade. Add onion and carrot to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in marinade, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add chicken, bacon, dried plums, and bay leaves; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Discard bay leaves. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

353 (29% from fat)

Fat:

11.2g (sat 3.5g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.7g)

Protein:

34.2g

Carbohydrate:

28.7g

Fiber:

3.7g

Cholesterol:

106mg

Iron:

2.8mg

Sodium:

869mg

Calcium:

62mg