make | FRANCE | coq au vin

So, what do you make when you fancy something that tastes like it's been bubbling away on the stove all day, but it's already four o'clock in the afternoon?  Our version of coq au vin, that's what! This is a mega quick recipe that calls for normal ingredients that you'll find in your store cupboards and fridges.  And the booze cabinet, of course.

Don't worry, the alcohol you use in cooking evaporates, so you're safe to serve this to any kids!  All you're left with is a rich and slightly sweet taste.  But, because this is a quite a quick cooking dish, if you're at all unsure, you can use the same amount of stock instead, or a non-alcoholic wine.

Coq au vin is traditionally made with a 'coq', which is not a chicken, but a rooster! It was a French peasant food - farmers would make do with what they had around.  It originally called for red wine, which, rather than being used to give flavour, was actually to help break down the tough old meat of the rooster.

We used white wine in this recipe, mainly because our family don't like red all that much and there wasn't any in the cabinet!  If you've got red wine you can use it instead, but it will make the dish quite a bit richer. Perhaps use 200ml wine and 350ml stock instead.  It's all down to personal preference.

We love using Chantenay carrots in cooking.  They cook quickly and you don't even need to peel them, just top and tail and give them a thorough wash.  They've got a lovely sweet flavour too - they'd be great in a juice actually.

Chantenay carrots, surprise surprise, originate from the Chantenay region of France.  They grew out of favour from the 1960's onwards, but they have recently been revived.  They're not too expensive - we got a 500g bag in Lidl for £1!

Chantenay carrots have, like all carrots, a lot of beta carotene, which the body converts into Vitamin A.  Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant, helping to prevent degenerative disease.  An 80g portion contains more than the RDA of Vitamin A.  The old wives' tale that carrots help you see in the dark is not wholly untrue - night blindness is a symptom of Vitamin A deficiency.

Speaking of Lidl, I would seriously recommend having a look around there! There are lots of food snobs out there who wouldn't dare step foot inside a branch of Lidl, but they're missing out on some great bargains!  Head to the fruit and vegetables, where you can get lots of great fresh produce.  They also have very inexpensive meat, and in the tinned section you can get lots of good tins of tuna, mackerel and sardines.

In a slightly naughtier vein, the chocolate is really very good! I would imagine it's because it's a European shop - so they get all the good chocolate from places like Belgium.  At Christmas, they do the most amazing gingerbread too.

I had to get a picture of the tomato puree in here! I LOVE tomato puree.  I think it adds a wonderful rich tomato flavour to most dishes, and it's really good for you too.  Concentrated tomatoes!  Tomatoes are a great anti-carcinogen, and the chemicals that are the best for you actually intensify when they are cooked.  I probably eat at least 5 cherry tomatoes most days.  I also love putting tomato puree on bread as a spread.  It goes very nicely in a ham salad sandwich, or on toast with a little piece of cheese.  

Anyway, I will give you the recipe for our quick coq au vin now.  It only takes about half an hour to make, but you can leave it in the slow cooker for a while until you want to serve it - that's what we did.

Enjoy today!!

- rosinaviolets    x

Coq au vin
Serves 4, with leftovers

4 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks.
250g Chantenay carrots, topped, tailed and washed.  If your carrots are a bit big, you can cut them in half.
300g button mushrooms, wiped or washed clean and cut in half if they are a bit big.
450g round shallots, peeled and cut in half if they are a bit big.
Bear in mind you want the vegetables to be quite rustic looking, so don't cut them too small.
2 cloves garlic, smooshed.
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary.
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme.
300ml vegetable or chicken stock.
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato puree.
250ml white wine.
Fresh parsley, to serve.

• Chop up the chicken into big-ish chunks. Put them in an oven-proof dish and fill it up with water.  Preheat the oven to 180C and poach the chicken in the oven for 30 minutes.  It won't look good, I know, but it keeps the chicken moist and makes it taste like it's been cooking for a long time in liquid. And it'll look much better once it gets in the rest of the stew! 

• Prepare the carrots and place them in a saucepan of boiling water to cook for about 6 minutes.  

• While the carrots are cooking, heat a big and deep frying pan with a little oil in it.  Cook the button mushrooms, garlic, rosemary and thyme until they're a nice colour, and smell good.  

• Now add the shallots, and cook for another five or so minutes.

• Add the wine to the pan and increase the heat.  Once the wine boils, add the stock and tomato puree.

• Add the chicken to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.  

• Transfer to a slow cooker, or serve sprinkled with parsley, with boiled new potatoes and your favourite green vegetable.  

Alternatively, you can follow the traditional French route and make this into more of a Sunday dish, by roasting a chicken first, cutting it up into pieces and adding these to the rest of the mixture instead of the chicken breasts.  Whatever takes your fancy!