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Coq au Riesling
Updated June 6, 2024
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- Total Time
- 1½ hours plus overnight refrigeration (optional)
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 8ounces sliced bacon, sliced crosswise into 1-inch pieces
- 3medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
- 10chicken thighs, with skin and bone
- 8ounces button mushrooms, halved
- 2 or 3garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- ¼cup chopped Italian parsley
- 3tablespoons chopped tarragon
- 1bottle dry or off-dry riesling wine (750 ml)
Preparation
- Step 1
Place large flameproof casserole or other heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add bacon, and cook until most of the fat has been rendered. Add onions and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mixture to plate, leaving behind as much liquid fat as possible.
- Step 2
Place pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches (do not overcrowd pan), brown chicken pieces on both sides, transferring them to a plate after they are browned.
- Step 3
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add mushrooms, garlic, 3 tablespoons of parsley and 2 tablespoons of tarragon. Sauté until mushrooms are coated in fat, about 1 minute. Return chicken pieces, onions and bacon to pan. Add wine, and raise heat to bring to a boil. Partially cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.
- Step 4
To serve immediately, sprinkle with remaining parsley and tarragon. For best results, cool, and refrigerate overnight. The next day remove any chilled fat on surface with paper towels. Reheat gently, sprinkle with parsley and tarragon, and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
After reading the reviews about the flavor being to winey tasting I thought to leave my first ever note.
Whenever you cook with wine you need to let it simmer without the cover of the pot on to let the alcohol boil out and evaporate. You can smell it and when the alcohol scent is no longer detectable cover the pot. You end up with great taste but no alcohol flavor which although is sometimes left in desserts should never be tasted in food.
I have made this with and without bacon. Bacon is not necessary, but adds nice flavor. Try thyme in place of tarragon.
Not sure about mushrooms, perhaps add pearl onions. This dish is definitely better made the day before you plan to serve it. Add 1/8-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper to the recipe. It adds a nice zing.
Pearls before wine?
I was thinking that it is perhaps better to add the wine before adding back the chicken back in and so I did. Adding the wine first has the two pronged advantage of both deglazing the fond and cooking off the alcohol in the wine. After that’s done you can safely add the chicken back in and simmer the pot covered without a resulting mild alcohol taste in the final dish.
When braising, add liquid only half-way, leaving crisp skin uncovered. Thighs cook and skin stays crispy.
Made this the other night but was wondering about adding an entire bottle of riesling. Who doesn't love a party? I have to say, though, it was too much. The flavor was very sharp and almost tinny. All that wine took away from the richness. I definitely would do half a bottle + half poultry stock next time. Then you can enjoy a little glass of wine on the side. Otherwise, love the idea of this white-wine version of Coq au Vin and will try it again with these adjustments.
I think would rather drink half the bottle of wine and cover my tracks by supplementing with a good stock. One must take care of the cook.
While it is true that alcohol does not completely cook out of any dish, studies done by USDA demonstrated that for a dish that is brought to a boil and simmered for 1 hour+ (as is this one) the remaining alcohol is only 5% of what was originally used.
This recipe calls for Riesling which usually runs around 10% ABV so the 5% remaining from a 750ml bottle would equal 1/8 ounce or 1/3 teaspoon in the entire recipe! Not enough to taste or to intoxicate and certainly not enough to worry about.
Boneless, skinless organic thighs, lightly dredged in Wondra flour, salt and pepper. Not overly greasy. Flour added color and body to sauce. With boneless reduced stovetop time to 40 minutes. Dried thyme instead of tarragon, off-dry riesling (no tinny acidity), bagged pearl onions (quick and attractive. The dish came together quickly before breakfast, to be served at dinner. Easy. Worthy of guests with a simple potato gratin or crusty bread and a green salad.
I loveses me some crispy chicken skin and find that even the sorriest, flabbiest, simmered-for-hours-to-make-soup specimens can be miraculously revived by microwaving them: blot the pieces of skin dry, lay them out on a Pyrex pie plate or other microwave-safe surface, cover with a paper towel, give them a couple minutes on high, then flip over and repeat until crisp/brown to your liking. Season, let drain on more paper towels, then chop them up as a garnish, or leave 'em whole - like frico.
This quickly became a family favorite and company dish. Take the time to brown the mushrooms and get a little carmelization going. I throw in some small red taters and carrots with some added broth to make it a new dish meal. Everyone raves!
I made this for the wife last night. It is wonderful. It took me over two hours to prepare, but it is well worth it. There's nothing difficult here, it just takes a while to prepare. I used half white mushrooms and half baby bellas. I also used a dry pinot grigio. This recipe is a keeper.
I wonder if the problem some are having concerns the amount of chicken called for. Chicken size varies a lot. Ten thighs might serve ten or only half that many, depending. Telling us the weight of the chicken in the recipe eliminates guesswork and allows better judgement as to amount of wine. Same with bacon. Eight slices of medium-thick would result in too much fat, but with a thin slice eight might be just right. Many new cooks lack the experience to make these adjustments automatically.
I used half chicken stock and half white wine since I did not have a full bottle of Riesling and it came out delicious!
The key to this recipe is to well brown the chicken, salt after browning, and serve the next day—like any coq au vin. I serve it with Smashed Sweet Potatoes. No overthinking. Very easy. Very Successful.
This can be made with skinless and boneless chicken too. Just omit the step about browning the chicken skin.
When we make this dish, we double the amount of mushrooms. We love mushrooms in our house and find it just doesn’t have enough.
Halved the recipe for two, used fresh savory and bay leaf instead of tarragon (just happened to have been given the savory), otherwise followed the recipe. Absolutely delicious. The long cooking is key. Chicken falls off the bone, yet is not overdone. My wife raved about this dish.
My wife has an allergy to milk protein. This recipe without butter or cream is delicious and much appreciated
Why would you want to skip the cream, hu? Why? Add it! Oh, and then also add like a half stick of butter at the end. This is NOT the recipe to start being worried about your cholesterol…
I’ve used leeks instead of onions, carrots in place of or with mushrooms, sometimes medium red potatoes, and half a bottle on Riesling. Removed the chicken to mix in 8 oz of creme fraiche and some lemon zest. Added back the chicken and finish with parsley (or tarragon) on top and crusty bread on the side. On regular rotation at the house and a special treat for guests.
Start with a mirepoix. It will add flavor. There is too much braising liquid to expect to thicken all of it and you don’t need it. It depends on how thick you want it but the braising liquid here is too thin. Use the classic 3:2:1 ratio of 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter and one cup of braising liquid to make gravy. That might be too thick so be flexible. So remove thee chicken and strain the liquid to measure just the liquid portion. Thicken based on that measurement. Serve on buttered noodles.
I made this just because I had an almost full bottle of bad Sauv Blanc in the fridge (and I know you're not supposed to cook with wine you wouldn't drink, but whatever). It was so easy and so good. Will make again with a semi-dry Riesling to see if there's any difference.
Use instapot and no salt. Finish with pepper and CHS seasoning and some cream
Only thing I’d change is salting and peppering the chicken before beginning. Otherwise, delicious!
It's French food, ya'll! Add all the wine and use skinless thighs. I tend to use a dry white instead of Riesling. I don't like the sweetness of the riesling. This is a great winter dinner party meal with crusty bread and butter lettuce salad.
Riesling comes in many styles, so don't judge it by what is often sold as Riesling. Try an Alsace Riesling--you may never want to drink another type of white wine again. Also, sweeter Rieslings have their place, but they need to be balanced with enough acidity. Again, a good German semi-dry Riesling (i.e. with some sweetness) is juicy and delicious.
Brown the bacon completely, like crispy. Use skin on and bone in thighs only. Brown skin nicely. Use either thyme or tarragon, either is nice. Fridge overnight for sure.
Bacon needs to be cut up smaller; found the flabby pieces of bacon unappetizing. (Bacon really isn’t a good substitute for lardons, in general.) Need to render the fat down more, to just a tbsp or so before browning the chicken. Luckily we cooked it the day before so we could scrape off a layer of fat before serving. Agree that it’s too much effort for too little flavor.
Recipe was made as follows: Two skinless chicken breasts, lightly dredged in 00 flour, salted and peppered Half bottle Riesling; equal amount of chicken broth Six slices of bacon Shiitake mushrooms, cooked in butter Sliced carrots, garlic to taste, artichoke hearts Fresh thyme After the bacon and chicken breasts were cooked and removed from the skillet, I then simmered the half bottle of Riesling for 45 minutes. Everything was then simmered in a covered skillet for one hour.
Excited for a dairy free lighter coq au vin. Followed the tips: half riesling/half broth, pearl onions, and simmered the wine mixture before adding the chicken back. Note: pearl onions are easiest peeled when blanched first. They just slip out after cutting off the root.
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