So in 3 months, I'm packing up my best boots and poodle and moving to Spain, and 6 months ago I made Coq au Vin. That's right, 6 months ago, as in January. And I'm just posting it now, because 8 month ago I started the application process for the program that's sending me to Spain, and after that there was Thanksgiving and Christmas and Miss Xpose Prelims and Miss Xpose finals and lots and lots of boozin' and jackassery in between. Sue me.
So back in January when I tried my hand at Mastering the Art of French cooking, I learned a few things along the way, that I will now list in order of importance:
1. Any dish the requires the presence of three bottles of alcohol is clear win-win situation. #Realtalk.
2. Julia Child is a God send of a woman, to whom I am thankful for her dedicating her life to Mastering the Art of French Cooking, because French cooking is certainly more art than science, is a detail oriented pain in the ass, but it is damn good and well worth the effort.
3. I should really make a habit of reading a recipe in its entirety several times before starting the cooking process. On that note, it would appear that I have mastered the art of convincing my dinner guests, my roommate and my sister in this instance, to happily wait 2 hours while I prepare their dinner, after 8pm and on a weeknight. Shazaam!
4. Everything is done for a reason. So no matter how sacrilegious it sounds to boil the exactly 4oz of bacon, if Julia says so, you boil the damn bacon.
5. Because if you don't boil the bacon, its flavor will be too strong and overpower the other flavor elements. Besides, that boiled bacon goes on to be sauteed in butter, and the aroma that results from this is nothing short of intoxicating, and could probably be bottled and sold as an aphrodisiac. True story.
7. And last but not least. Pearl onions+mushrooms+butter+wine+herbs=indescribably delicious. No ifs, ands, or butts about it.
The end result doesn't look like much, but it taste fucking fantastic. No edit necessary, recipe found here.
I love Coq Au Vin! I've only made it once... I think it was Mother's Day 2009, but it was so good. My recipe didn't involve boiling the bacon or setting the dish on fire... interesting. I think it took me like four hours to cook it and I didn't have the nerve to cut up a whole chicken, so I bought chicken pieces.
ReplyDelete90 days 'til Spain? Wow! You'll be in Espana right after I become a mama! 2012 is a big year!
I've seen a lot of variations on this recipe, but I wanted to do it as authentically as possible. Cutting up the chicken was actually pretty easy, I'm sure you could easily handle that now. And I'm planning on leaving the second week of september, and there's sooo much to be done between then and now. Yikes! Can't wait for baby powell to get here!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what Coq Au Vin is, but you made it look simply delish! And your pictures are so good Nadette! Look at you work that camera :) I'm a proud momma!
ReplyDeleteWell if you think my pictures look good, I'll take your word for it :D. And coq au vin is delicious, not so simple to make, but worth all the effort!
ReplyDeleteLawd, my hat goes off to you. Congrats to moving abroad and I look forward to more posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Now if only I could get my ish together between now and September. yikes!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I totally didn't boil the bacon!! It's like you just knew my deepest darkest secret and now it's out on the internets for everyone to see. I confess it was still pretty tasty but ok, ok, now that I have my fancy scale I will break it out and boil the damn bacon!
ReplyDeletelol, you have to! I recently made a bacon/rosemary/red wine risotto and the bacon flavor was so strong, I had to cut it with an extra half cup of wine. Not that I'm really complaining, but apparantly too much bacon flavor can be a bad thing (gasp!)
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was amazing, I may have to make it here in Spain
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