Chicken: Cog a Vin: Reconstructed

By fsilver4

Instead of spending hours in the kitchen making one of my favorite dinners, I decided to combine all the ingredients of the traditional cog a vin while adding a few new flavors, and then I reworked the version so that it became manageable to make any night of the week. This dish is a family favorite and elegant enough for entertaining friends on the weekend. Serve over a mound of mashed potatoes or with herbed egg noodles.

Ingredients

• 3 slices of thick bacon, chopped
• 1 whole onion, chopped
• 1 leek, white part only, chopped
• 1/4 c. all purpose unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 to 2 lb. chicken thighs
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup dry, red wine, cabernet works best
• 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small bunch of parsley

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 31mins

Preparation

Step 1

Brown bacon pieces in braising pan, remove.
Add onions and leek and stir often until it absorbs some bacon grease, about 3-5 minutes. Remove onions and leek without removing bacon grease, try to leave as much oil as possible.

Add a 2 to 3 tbs of olive oil to pan if necessary.
Mix flour, salt and pepper on a plate and lightly coat chicken thighs. Brown chicken thighs on all sides. When done with the last chicken thigh, put them all back in the pan. Add onions, leek, and bacon and the rest of the vegetables to the pan. Add the chicken broth and red wine.

Tie the rosemary and thyme together with kitchen string. Drop in the pan and submerge into the sauce. Place a lid on the pan and simmer on top of the stove for 40 to 45 minutes.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper seasonings. Remove the chicken and place on a pretty platter. Reduce sauce on high heat for another 15 minutes {(optional: add 1 heaping teaspoon of poultry demiglaze; purchase through William Sonoma) and add 1/4 cup of Sherry} Strain Sauce completely through strainer, add chopped parsley to sauce and pour over chicken on platter and serve.