Marcia’s Coq Au Vin – via Seresin Estate
Serves 4
A perfect match with a glass of Seresin Rachel Pinot Noir.
Ingredients
1 bottle Pinot Noir
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 small onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed with a knife
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch of thyme
1 T butter
150g streaky bacon, cut into thick chunks
2 T plain flour
4 chicken thighs
2 chicken legs
20 baby onions or 10 shallots, peeled but left whole
20 button mushrooms or 10 white mushrooms, quartered
4 T cognac
Directions
1. Pour the wine into a saucepan and add the carrot, celery, onion, crushed garlic, bay leaf and 4 sprigs thyme.
2. Bring to the boil and reduce by half, then strain and discard the flavourings.
3. Heat the butter over a medium-high flame in a large, heavy-based pan with a lid and then add the bacon. Cook until golden, then lift out with a slotted spoon and put aside.
4. Meanwhile, tip the flour onto a plate and season well. Roll the chicken pieces in it to coat them.
5. Put the chicken in the pan (in batches if necessary) and brown well on all sides, then
lift out and set with the bacon. (Your bacon should have given off enough fat for there still to be enough in the pan for the next stage, but if not, add another tablespoon of butter or a glug of oil.)
6. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the onions or shallots. Cook for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are beginning to caramelise.
7. Add the mushrooms and sliced garlic and cook for a further 4 minutes, then lift out of the pan and set aside (but not with the meat).
8. Turn up the heat, pour a little of the reduced wine into the pan and scrape the bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon.
9. Put the chicken and bacon back into the pan, reserving some of the bacon for a
garnish.
10. Pour over the brandy and set it alight. When the flames have gone out, add the rest of the wine and the thyme leaves.
11. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer gently for an hour.
12. Add the onions, mushrooms and garlic and simmer for another 20 minutes, keeping
the lid on for only half this time.
13. Taste for seasoning and serve with the rest of the bacon sprinkled over the top, with some boiled potatoes or rice.
14. If you’re making it the day before you want to eat it (which will improve its flavour)
then lift the solidified fat off the top before reheating.
Recipe provided by Chef Marcia Chang-Hong at Seresin Estate in New Zealand
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Prepping for the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference
With ten more articles to write, photo edit and publish for wineries visited in Prince Edward County, Ontario and the Thousand Islands region of New York, the Wine Trail Traveler staff needs to pause and prep for the Wine Bloggers Conference. How do you prep for a conference? One thing is to make sure we have enough business cards as well as a goal. My goal is to hand out and collect 100 business cards while attending the conference.
Another prep is to check out the Sponsors. There are some sponsors that I’d like to meet. On the short list is Vibrant Rioja, Navarra, Wine Tourism Conference, The Indiana Wine Grape Council and the Missouri Wine and Grape Board. There are other too as I read through the list and check out their websites.
Perhaps the longest prep is to check out the 300+ attendee sites. This will take awhile, but I’d like to see what they are doing. Of course I’m beginning to follow #WBC11 on Twitter, but can’t afford to park in front of my computer for hours without end. However the outside temperature is in the 90’s and the humidity is becoming oppressive. Following tweets is more pleasant than cutting grass.
Another prep is to determine which Friday breakout sessions I’ll attend and which ones Kathy will attend. We have been to and written about most of the wineries in the Charlottesville area. For Saturday morning wineries tour, I’ll focus on the attendees and what they think of Virginia wine. I should also brush up on Cognac. I think I have a bottle around here somewhere and my WSET book.
There actually is some prep work to do. Perhaps the most important is to determine what to wear based on the forecast. It has already been suggested to wear dark clothes in case one spills red wine. I figure if red wine spills, I’ll immediately use white wine to take out the stain.
Cheers,
Terry