Chicken and Mushrooms in Red Wine

Filed in archive Recipes on January 29, 2007

This is my take on the classic Coq Au Vin, simplified for the home cook.

1 3-4 lb fryer, cut into parts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups red wine (I used a Spanish merlot)
1 pound mushrooms, about 3 cups sliced
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large, deep skillet, saucepan or casserole over moderate heat. Add chicken pieces and saute, 5 minutes on each side, until golden all over and just cooked through, about 20 minutes total. Remove chicken from pan and pour off fat, leaving drippings behind and 1-2 tablespoons of the fat. Return chicken to pan, putting it on one side of the pan. Add the bacon on the other side of the pan and cook until the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Add onion to bacon and cook until limp, about 4 minutes. Add wine and deglaze, scraping off the bits from the bottom of the pan to incorporate. Add mushrooms and stir well. Don't worry if it seems like you don't have enough liquid in the pan -- there's liquid in the mushrooms too. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until mushrooms and chicken are fully cooked. Stir in parsley and red wine vinegar and cook for 5 minutes more, adjusting seasoning with salt and pepper.