Dinner & A Book

Coq au vin

Serves 6

Over the years I’ve tries many times to make a coq au vin, the renowned French chicken stew with red wine, but with disappointing results. My television producer Olivia Grove one day told me, “Well, it’s just beef bourguignon with chicken.” And I thou8ght, “So it is!” With that in mind, I adopted my old recipe for beef and come up with an easy chicken version that’s such a satisfying winter dinner. Usually the chicken cooks for hours and is dry and stingy, but I found that after only thirty to forty minutes the oven, the chicken is perfectly cooked and still tender and juicy.

• Good olive oil
• 8 ounces good bacon or pancetta, diced
• 2 (3- to 4-pound) chicken, each cut into 8 serving pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound carrots cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
• 2 yellow onions, sliced
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
• ¼ cup cognac or good brandy
• 1 (750-ml) bottle good dry wine such as Burgundy
• 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 bunch fresh thyme springs
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 pound frozen small whole onions
• 1 pound porcini or cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat
3. Add the bacon and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
4. Remover the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Shakshou Ka

• Olive oil
• 4 eggs
• Sauce
• 4 tomatoes
• Paprika cumin
• Cayenne pepper
• Red pepper
• Salt and pepper