Coq au vin

And the seasonal culinary crossroad

On this morning’s walk, I couldn’t help but notice that the promise of spring is definitely in the air. Crocuses and daffodils are starting to emerge, and the light has a vividness that tells me it won’t be long before we’ll be waving winter goodbye. Even the air smells different.

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The temperatures, however, are another story. The sun may be out, but hats and gloves are still a must if one doesn’t want to return home with frostbite. Indeed, it’s still pretty cold out there, though not as cold as it is in Yakutsk, the coldest major city in the world, where temperatures can dip to a bone-chilling minus 50 degrees Celsius in winter. Imagine that. Resident Maria Solko told the BBC’s The Food Chain podcast that, “the really cold weather actually feels like burning; the way you feel when you touch something really hot.”

Winter does have its charms, and for me, they all start in the kitchen, where I bake bread, spend afternoons making French cakes and pastries, or let hearty soups and stews blip away on the stove as they fill the house with their warmth and promising aromas. On weekdays, soup is pretty much a standard lunch during these colder months, and Sundays, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, are all about slow cooking. Truly, there is no better place to spend winter, in my opinion, than in a cozy kitchen. In fact, I dream of having a big open fire in the kitchen where I can not only cook but also keep warm. The kind of fire that fuels the thoughts as you sit next to it the whole morning with a pot of coffee, writing stories, recipes, and flutters of the mind. There’s just something so endlessly charming about the crackling sounds and the scent of woodsmoke. One day, I tell myself. One day.

So what do I cook when winter is at its tail end? Dishes that are rib-stickingly robust yet aren’t stodgy. No more choucroute garnie, but rather classic stews such as a flavorful coq au vin. Together with boeuf bourguignon and oeufs en meurette, it is one of three traditional dishes of Burgundy that are infused with the regional Pinot Noir.

During my trips through the region, I tasted myriad versions of this dish, and years ago, I managed to perfect the recipe, albeit in a slightly sacrilegious way—my apologies in advance to the grannies in Buxy who opened their doors to me one winter and taught me their recipe.

Instead of Pinot Noir, I used a red Bergerac wine, an aromatic Pécharmant, to be precise. I also fortified the pot with a good glug of Armagnac. I guess you can say it’s a coq au vin ‘Sud-Ouest’ style. A little sun-warmed and rosy-cheeked. A squeeze of sharp tomato purée rounded things out, lending the sauce a deeper, more velvety richness.

These days, however, it’s a plant-based version that emerges from my kitchen. It’s just as warming and rich, even though I use a quality plant-based chicken replacement. With a humble side of boiled potatoes and a green salad, it’s exactly the kind of dish I crave at this seasonal crossroad, when the cold still lingers, but you’re already longing for light.

Below, you’ll find both recipes: the original, as I wrote it back in 2015, and the plant-based variation that has since taken its place at my table.

Before you go…

If you’ve never heard of Pécharmant, you’ll find the appellation to the northeast of Bergerac. This is home to some of the region’s finest reds. The sloping vineyards face mainly south and profit from warmer temperatures and a drier climate, essential for robust, concentrated wines replete with ripe tannins. The soil, similar to that of Pomerol, contains iron-rich clay which aids in the development of tannin and gives the wines supple flavors.

“Coq” au vin
Serves 2

Ingredients:
15g dried porcini
4 knobs of plant-based butter
250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
4 small shallots, 1 roughly chopped, 3 quartered
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced into thick rounds at an angle
1 bouquet garni
1 tbsp tomato paste
200ml strong, hot vegetable stock
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
200ml red wine, preferably a pinot noir
Few drops of (vegan) Worcestershire sauce
Freshly cracked pepper
2 plant-based “chicken” breasts
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Instructions:
Soak porcini for 15 minutes in hot water. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and sauté half of the mushrooms for 5 minutes until browned. Transfer to a plate, heat another knob of butter, and fry the rest of the mushrooms. Place them on the plate as well. Heat a knob of butter in a Dutch oven and sauté the shallots, garlic, carrots, and bouquet garni for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Stir in flour very well, then add hot stock while stirring. The sauce will thicken. Add the wine, porcini, half of the cooked mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Reduce the heat, cover, and gently cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Brown the plant-based “chicken” in a knob of butter; 2 minutes per side. Add the rest of the mushroom and the chicken to the sauce, cover, and cook for a final 5 minutes. Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes.

Coq au vin
Serves 4

Ingredients:
125g smoked lardons
4 chicken quarters
4 shallots. halved and sliced
1 leek, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
4 fat garlic cloves, sliced
1 tbsp tomato paste
80ml Armagnac
300ml good-quality chicken stock
400ml red Bergerac wine (preferably a Pécharmant)
1 bouquet garni
1 sprig of rosemary, needles finely chopped
Fine sea salt & freshly cracked pepper
60g butter
2 tbsps all-purpose flour
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
Flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Gently fry the lardons for 3 minutes in an ungreased shallow, heavy-bottomed casserole (approx. 30cm). Increase the heat and add the chicken, making sure to fry it on all sides until golden. Transfer the chicken and lardons to a dish, and to the oil left in the pan, add the shallots, leeks, carrots, and garlic. Cook on a medium heat for approx. 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Increase the heat and add the Armagnac. Cook, stirring, until the Armagnac has evaporated (approx. 3 minutes). Add the stock, wine, bouquet garni, rosemary, and salt and pepper. Transfer the dish to the oven and cook uncovered for 1 ½ hrs, turning the legs a few times during cooking. Fifteen minutes before serving, place 30g of the butter in a small bowl to soften. Use the rest of the butter to fry the mushrooms. At the end of the cooking time, add the flour to the softened butter with a fork to make a paste. Remove the dish from the oven. Place the chicken on a plate and stir in the butter and flour to thicken the sauce. Return the chicken to the pan, add the mushrooms, sprinkle with parsley and serve.