Coq au Vin

A slow-braised French chicken in red wine with lardons, mushrooms, and pearl onions. The long cooking time distinguishes it from quick French classics like Steak Frites, making it a useful cook-time filter test case. Catches searches for "french chicken", "wine braised chicken", and "slow cooked dinner".

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, jointed into 8 pieces
• 750 ml full-bodied red wine (Burgundy or Pinot Noir)
• 200 g smoked lardons (bacon lardons, pancetta)
• 250 g button mushrooms
• 200 g pearl onions (or small shallots)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 sprig thyme, 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp butter, plain flour for dusting

Method

1. Marinate chicken in wine with thyme and bay leaves overnight, or at least 2 hours. Pat dry and reserve marinade.
2. Brown lardons in a Dutch oven. Remove. Dust chicken in flour and brown in batches. Remove.
3. Sauté onions and garlic until golden. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute.
4. Add reserved wine, chicken, and lardons. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat 1 hour.
5. Add mushrooms and cook uncovered a further 30 minutes until sauce is reduced and glossy.

Tags: french, poultry, slow, 150min, chicken, braised, red wine, slow cooker alternative, weekend dinner