Cooking with Julia, Ginette, Monique... and Glenn

I know how to cook Coq Au Vin (chicken with wine) because my mother, Monique, taught me by demonstration many, many times in my youth. This was Monique's signature dish, so I needn't reference Julia for instruction. But Monique would often refer to the classic French cookbook of her youth - "Je Sais Cuisiner" by Ginette Mathiot, and I still have her original French version in my cookbook collection.

My French is not good enough to navigate culinary jargon and idioms very well, so I don't refer to Je Sais Cuisiner much at all - until now, that is. It just came out in English and my father-in-law (an old friend of Monique's, by the way) just gave it to me - thanks Pops! I now see that Monique basically prepared Ginette's dish.

So when Glenn, Pam and Claudie came over for the weekend, Glenn and I cross-referenced Julia, Ginette and what Monique had taught me, and we made a great Coq Au Vin dinner. Glenn made his famous Mashed Potatoes with Celery Root and we modified the classic French chicken dish with fresh shitake mushrooms - the only ones Glenn will eat. That was an excellent, tasty modification. And of course fresh oysters a la Glenn (basically naked with lemon...) were fantastic hors d'oeuvres.

Coq Au Vin1/4 lb bacon, diced
2 roasting chickens, cut in pieces
2 leek, cleaned and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 cups red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 lb. fresh mushrooms (we used Shitake)
25-30 pearl onions

3 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp softened butter
1/4 cup Cognac

Cook bacon in a large Dutch Oven pot, until just crispy. Remove to a large bowl and remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and crank heat to high. Brown the chicken pieces in batches of 6-8 pieces at a time, removing to the bowl with the bacon as progressing.

Add the leek to the Dutch Oven (add more oil if necessary) and sweat down until softening. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Return the bacon and chicken to the pot and add the wine and tomato paste. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile in separate pans, saute the onions and the mushrooms until just softened, each in a bit of olive oil. After the chicken has cooked 20 minutes, add the mushrooms and onions to the chicken for another 10-15 minutes. Then remove the chicken mixture to a large serving bowl or platter. Add Cognac and carefully flambe.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and the softened butter and whisk into the sauce in the Dutch Oven. Raise the heat and cook, stirring until thickened. Pour sauce over the chicken in the serving bowl and garnish with parsley.


Glenn's Mashed Potatoes with Celery Root
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