Coq Au Vin

Alright. Coq au vin is not supposed to be easy. At least, all the recipes I've looked at tell me so. However, from my understanding, coq au vin used to be a peasant food in France. It was usually made with a rooster, hence the long cooking method (to tender up the tougher connective tissue). I've read a bunch of recipes and I do not see why it has to be difficult. So, I've come up with a recipe here that should take less than thirty minutes to get into a pot, and then you just have to let it simmer for about an hour after that. It's definitely fun to be able to tell people you're making "coq au vin" for dinner, and they never have to know that it was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezie! Serve it up with some textbook mashed potatoes and I've pretty sure you've got yourself a winner. I made it yesterday and the brothy gravy around the chicken was delicious. I will note that the longer you cook this the better. Buon appetito!

Ingredients

-1 whole, cut chicken
-2 slices bacon, cut into ½ inch squares, or pancetta, sliced into strips
-2 tbs extra virgin olive oil, divided
-2 cloves garlic
-2 carrots, sliced
-2 medium onions
-3 cups chicken broth
-1 cup red wine
-1/2 cup red wine vinegar
-2 tbs tomato paste
-2 sprigs of thyme
-1 package white mushrooms, sliced
-kosher salt and pepper

In a heavy bottomed pan, preferably a dutch oven, heat boil the bacon/pancetta in ¼ inch of water. Keep it on high heat and let the water worry itself away, then allow the bacon/pancetta to simmer in the dry pan till it starts to leave a little brown in the pan. Remove the bacon, and, still on high heat, place the chicken pieces, skin side down, into the pan of bacon grease. If you think there isn’t enough grease to cook the chicken, add a tablespoon of oil and heat it up before adding the chicken. Cook for about 4 minutes on just the skin side, then remove from the pan.

Add two tbs olive oil Iif necessary) to the pot and sauté the carrots, garlic, and half the onions. Pour in one cup of chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned stuff. Pour in the remaining chicken broth, wine, vinegar, and tomato paste and put the chicken back in, sprinkling with salt and pepper. Arrange the sprigs of thyme around the chicken and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat, and simmer till the chicken is cooked all the way through, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the skillet, sauté the remaining onions and the mushrooms till they release their liquid and then that liquid reduces by a little more than a half. When the chicken is cooked, pour the onions and mushrooms on top and serve with mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, or even wide egg noodles.

Saltimbocca (or Saltinbocca)

Vesti la giubba,
la faccia infarina,
la gente paga e rider vuole qua
e se Arlecchino
s'invola Colombina,
ridi pagliaccio
e ognun t'applaudirà.

How do you like my commedia dell'arte? I could not believe this is just clipart. The Italian is an exerpt from "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's opera "I Pagliacci." The translation, as far as my Italian goes, is:

"Put on your costume,
powder your face,
the crowd has paid and they want to laugh here
and if Harlequin
seduces/steals Columbina,
laugh, clown!
And everyone will applaud."

Admittedly I am not a huge opera fan. I adore the arias but sitting through sung dialogue is not my cup of tea. This play, however, always makes me cry. For the storyline, go here

Now for cooking! The name of this recipe literally means "it jumps in your mouth," or "hops in the mouth" it's that delicious. My mom serves this with her fetuccine alfredo (recipe to be posted), and it is such a crowd pleaser. It’s one of those meals that looks like it took hours to make and really only took a small amount of time. She always made it when our parish priest came over for dinner, which made it difficult because I always wanted seconds, even thirds, and I had to make sure the guests got enough!

Several saltimbocca recipes do not bread the chicken. Some fry them in a pan (which is probably delicious but baking is definitely healthier) and many add a sage leaf in with the "stuffing" ingredients. Still other recipes serve the chicken with a carmelized onion or shallot sauce. However, I'm recounting this recipe the way my mother and grandmother do it, and I know for certain that it's so good that "salta in bocca!"

Buon appetito!


Ingredients

-4 thin-sliced chicken breast (the kind that are about ¼ inch thick)
-4 slices hard or Genoa salami or prosciutto
-4 thin pats of butter
-salt and pepper
-1 egg beaten, two if necessary
-1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Take each chicken breast and salt and pepper one side. Lay a slice of salami/proscuitto on the salted side. Place a pat of butter over that. Gently, roll the chicken breast over the salami/prosciutto and make a little “chicken loaf” with the red meat and butter on the inside. Hold it shut by inserting a toothpick through it. Dip the chicken rolls into the beaten egg and then into the bread crumbs and coat it. Set each breaded roll into a baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until the rolls are browned and crunchy on the outside. I usually test it by cutting my own roll in half and making sure there’s no pink in the chicken, but if you’re good at telling when chicken is done, do it your way.