Chicken Rooster Stewed in Red Wine
I come back after the holidays with this simple rooster cooked in wine, tested by several guests with great success. The first time I ever made it I used country rooster meat, by the book :) In fact, the book says it ought to be a French rooster from Bresse, but the one from my mother's yard was also good. I didn't settle down and I repeated the recipe with simple store-bought thighs. It's harder to find an exemplary country rooster which has more thighs (I had 2 hens and I only took the thighs, so it's a bit expensive and complicated, but do it when you have the opportunity). In the last steps, you'll find the economical, handy version with simple chicken legs. To be honest, I even thought it was better, so don't worry and just do it :) In this recipe of coq au vin, it's very important to use good quality dry red wine. Use the one you like and drink with pleasure. In the first recipe I used Bordeaux and in the second one I used Purcari Cabernet-Sauvignon. Now, it might be because I'm Moldovan, but the Purcari wine seemed better ... both in the recipe and beside :)
There are many variants of coq au vin recipes, all claiming to be authentic and classic. I chose the one that seemed simpler and "smelled" the best through the computer screen.
- First of all, peel and prepare the vegetables.
- Cut the carrots and onions into thicker rounds. Slice the celery or cut into medium-sized sticks.
- Place in an oven tray and sprinkle with 50ml of olive oil.
Place the tray in the preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 15-20 minutes, the vegetables will brown a little and will change the smell, the texture.
You can mix carefully during this time in order to brown evenly.
Here I used only the legs and the more meaty parts of the wings from 2 country roosters. I had guests and it had to be enough for everyone.
For one recipe, I don't recommend more than 1 kg of meat. It's the right amount to bake and infuse perfectly.
In a larger saucepan or in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat the remaining 50ml of olive oil and the 50g of butter.
Fry the chicken, washed and dried with some towels beforehand.
Cook over high heat on all sides until nicely browned.
Here is the Bordeaux wine I used the first time, bought from Lidl at a decent price.
Don't forget the very important ingredients - the savory / thyme and rosemary sprigs, plus the garlic cloves (the first time I crushed them with a knife, with the peel on, but I recommend removing it).
Okay, so I showed you the wine and spices while the thighs were cooking.
Now transfer chicken to a pot or a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, suitable for oven baking (for later) - the handles shouldn't be plastic (mine are silicone)!
If you've cooked the thighs in a Dutch oven from the start, skip this step.
If you've cooked in a pan, don't forget that there are good things left after frying - pour a little wine to dissolve them and we'll pour over the meat later.
So, we have the browned thighs in the Dutch oven. Add the browned vegetables from steps 1-2, season with salt and pepper.
Pour the wine (the one from the pan and then from the bottle) to cover the meat a little. Don't pour all if not needed, save some for serving :)
On top, put the thyme, rosemary and garlic cloves, slightly crushed with a knife.
Cover the pot with a lid and cook on the stove for 30-40 minutes (if it's a country rooster, it's better to cook for 1 hour).
Careful! DO NOT mix at all in the pot while the meat is boiling, neither on the stove, nor in the oven - that's it, there's nothing else to do there :)
After this time, remove the lid and place the pot in the preheated oven at 120 degrees C for another 30-40 minutes (for thighs) or 1-2 hours (for country chicken, until meat is soft).
Notice that the cooking time varies due to the different types of meat. If the juice in the pan with country meat drops, cover with a lid or foil, so that it won't burn. Or add a little more wine or water.
When it's done, remove the meat and transfer onto a plate. Arrange the vegetables around and carefully pour over the juice.
Take away the rosemary / thyme if you don't like to see it there. You'll be able to serve the garlic along with the vegetables and the sauce only if you peel it.
Now let me show you the second option - the one with store-bought thighs and Purcari wine. There was a fight on every bite but mostly on the bread spread with sauce :)
The process was the same. I bought 1 kg of boneless chicken legs and cooked with butter and olive oil straight in the Dutch oven.
Season with salt and pepper, place the roasted vegetables on top and pour enough wine to cover everything.
Don't forget to add thyme / savory, rosemary and garlic on top.
Cook for 30 minutes on the stove.
Notice the pink-brown color of the meat. Don't panic, it'll get more beatiful once it's baked in the oven :)
It should be looking like this after another 40 minutes in the oven at 150 degrees C, without a lid!
The store-bought meat cooks faster. The difference in taste isn't very big, so go ahead and start the recipe.
You can turn the thighs carefully with a fork once, while roasting in the oven.
Here's the country chicken, served with great fuss on the New Year's table. It was very impressive and cooked with little effort.
Here I made a repetition, just yesterday, with chicken bought from the store (because my mother doesn't have as many chickens as we'd like to eat :))
Delicious, simple, fragrant and very impressive!
Enjoy!
