Coq au Vin

If you have time, I strongly recommend preparing this dish over three days to get the most intense and settled flavors. On the evening of Day One, marinate the chicken (Step 1). On the afternoon or evening of Day Two, do the cooking (Steps 2-6), let the pot cool and refrigerate it. On Day Three, reheat the pot on low heat for about a half hour, finish the job with Steps 7-9, and enjoy your feast. Melissa Clark alludes to this approach in the full version of The New Essentials of French Cooking.

Variant on Figaro's tip: I open both ends of the tomato paste can and push out the log into a plastic sheet. Cut out what I need and roll up the remainder and freeze. Next time I need tomato paste I remove the plastic and slice off what I need.

Open the can of tomato paste; use what you need; cover it with plastic wrap, secure with rubber band. Place it in the freezer. To re-use, take it out; let it thaw bit, and use what ever more you need, then put it back in the freezer. I've been able to keep on can going for quite a while using this method.

The long version of The New Essentials of French Cooking gave helpful advice. Drop the pearl onions into boiling water and leave them there for one minute. Drain the pot, and let the onions cool until you can handle them. Then the outer skin peels off easily. I tried it, and it worked just fine.

I don't think this recipe is intended for a weeknight. Sounds like Melissa's Instapot recipes might be more up your alley. As for the mushroom and lardon comments, layering in the same ingredients at different stages in the cooking is a tried and true way to create dimension and depth of flavor. The undertones of your comments are super negative. This is a romantic dish meant to take time. I find a lot of joy in that.

On tomato paste: why not use tubed tomato paste? Doesn't it keep indefinitely in frig?

This is a glorious recipe. I’ve never had chicken so good. My only build: double the vegetables. They taste so amazing that you’ll want more.

I put left over tomato paste in ice cube trays when frozen remove and put in freezer bag. 1 TBS per cube. Voila!!!

this recipe is excellent but way too complicated for mere mortals with a day job. so many unnecessary complications. just cook all the mushrooms at once. forget dipping toast points in sauce and coating with parsley (that is truly nuts, Melissa); just garnish. don't dry off each chicken piece by hand. forget dividing the lardons in half; just put it all in. whew.

First time I made coq au vin was in the early '70's from a recipe in the set of Woman's Day cookbooks that appeared in supermarkets about that time. That recipe called for summer savory as well as the thyme and bay leaf. When I omit the savory, it just doesn't taste as good, but I never see savory included in any recipes today. Give it a try. It rounds the flavors in a way that I love.

This came out really well for a small dinner party. Served with mashed potatoes. I used half white and half red wine. The sauce was superb, meaty and earthy. (I used frozen pearl onions, a terrific convenience.) The leftover sauce, along with some chopped up leftover chicken, was beautiful over buttered toast.

You know those special meals that make everyone at the table stop what they're doing, do a double take, close their eyes, and lean back while groaning with delight? Yeah. That was this meal.

Today I finished a class at the Culinary Institute of America where we made Coq au Vin. Our recipe added thyme, bay leaf, onions, carrots, celery, and leeks to the chicken/wine overnight marinade. The primary difference (and improvement) I saw in the recipe we used was starting with roughly 1.5 quarts (48oz) of red wine, and reducing that wine by 50% before adding to the stew. We combined the reduced wine with 2 quarts brown chicken stock and 12oz blond roux. The end result was life changing.

I thought the salt was too much; the lardons i used were pancetta and that's salty. I haven't made this for years; the last time was Julia Child's recipe. I think this is about the same. I did the dish in three days. Any braise/stew is better for it. Loved this revisiting the classics; for many they will be new, and the author's notes are very thoughtful and helpful.

This was the best meal I've ever cooked. I made as written through step 6, then refrigerated over night, and completed the rest of the steps while slowly rewarming the chicken. Amazing, wonderful flavor. I've been sneaking spoonfuls of the broth.