Coq Au Creme Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done. Set aside.
• Add the carrots, onions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.
• Mash 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium saute pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Heat the oil on medium-high in a 4-quart stovetop casserole or sauté pan. Add the chicken, skin side down, as many pieces as fit comfortably. Cook until lightly browned, season with salt and pepper and turn to brown other side. Remove to a platter when done and repeat with the remaining chicken.
• Add the pearl onions to casserole and toss in fat until lightly browned. Remove to a dish. Reduce heat to low. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, cook until softened, and stir in the mushrooms. When they wilt, add the wine, bring to a simmer and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Return chicken to casserole with any accumulated juices, baste, cover and cook 30 minutes, basting a few more times. Remove the chicken to a platter.
• Increase heat to medium-high and cook the sauce and mushrooms about 5 minutes, until sauce thickens slightly. Lower heat, add the pearl onions and butter. When butter melts, check seasonings, return chicken to casserole, baste and simmer a few minutes. Serve from casserole or transfer to a deep platter. Scatter the tarragon on top before serving.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a casserole or large wide pan and fry the lardons until crisp.
• Add the sliced leeks and soften them with the lardons for a minute or so.
• Tip in the chicken thighs, bay leaves, torn mushrooms and wine.
• Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, cover the pan and simmer gently for an hour. Like all stews this tastes its mellowest best if you let it get cold and then reheat the next day. But it's no hardship to eat straight off. Whichever, serve sprinkled with dill and with some buttered noodles, if using.

Steps:

• Heat the oil and butter in a flameproof casserole over a medium heat and fry the chicken and bacon lardons for 10-15 mins, or until evenly browned. Add the onion, carrots and mushrooms, and fry for 5 mins more. Stir in the plain flour and cook for 2 mins, then add the thyme and bay. Slowly stir in the wine and bring to a simmer, then add the stock, a little at a time, stirring between each addition. Season and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 30 mins, then remove the lid and cook for 15 mins more. Spoon a little of the sauce into a small bowl and mix with the cornflour, then stir this back into the coq au vin. Remove the thyme and bay. Leave to cool for 1 hr.
• To make the pastry, tip the flour, salt and butter into a food processor and pulse to fine crumbs. Add half the beaten egg and 2 tbsp ice-cold water and pulse again until the dough just comes together. Add an extra 1 tbsp water if the pastry feels dry. Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly until you have a uniform dough, then wrap and chill for at least 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut off a quarter of the pastry and roll it into a long strip on a lightly floured surface. Attach the strip of dough around the lip of a 26cm pie dish using a little of the remaining beaten egg, and use any offcuts to make decorations, if you like (we cut out a crescent and scored it to make a chicken decoration). Roll the remaining pastry out into a 30cm circle, about 5mm thick. Spoon the filling into the dish and use the rolling pin to lift the pastry circle over the dish. Crimp the edges in a decorative pattern to seal, or do this with a fork. At this stage, the pie can be wrapped and frozen for up to three months. Defrost in the fridge overnight, then continue as below. Brush with most of the remaining beaten egg and attach any decorations. Chill for 30 mins, then brush with the rest of the egg. Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 mins until the pastry is golden and the filling is piping hot. Leave to rest for 10 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the mash. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan with a large pinch of salt, cover with cold water and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15-20 mins until the tip of a knife can be easily inserted. Drain and leave to steam-dry for 5 mins, then pass through a potato ricer or sieve, or mash with a potato masher. Fold in the butter, warm milk and chives. Season. Serve the pie with the mash.