Coq Au Vin (recipe, meat) Makes a Great Sukkah Meal!

COQ AU VIN M SERVES: 8-10

Each chicken piece is saturated with red wine and herbs and is incredibly delicious.

Prep time: Chicken- 35-45 min. Simmering time- 30 min.  Vegetables- 45 min.

Chilling- several hours or overnight. Sauce: 15-20 min.

Assembly& reheating: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS                           

      three 3 pound frying chickens-cut in joints           

freshly ground black pepper                   

2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons non dairy margarine           

3 cups low salt chicken broth                   

3 tablespoons tomato paste

6 large cloves garlic-peeled and crushed

1½ teaspoons crushed thyme

3 large bay leaves

2 one pound bags frozen pearl onions-defrosted

9 tablespoons vegetable oil

herb bouquet: 2 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon thyme, 8 peppercorns

wrapped in cheesecloth

2 pounds small white mushrooms

9 tablespoons flour

EQUIPMENT

6 quart Dutch oven

Large skillet with cover

whisk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to: 300 F.
2. Clean, rinse and dry all chicken pieces. Sprinkle chicken with freshly ground black pepper and set aside.
3. Melt six tablespoons margarine in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, and brown them on all sides. Place each batch of browned chicken in casserole. Repeat process until all the chicken pieces have been browned. (Do not wash skillet.) The onions and mushrooms can be browned in the same pan with the chicken drippings.) Put casserole in the oven. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
4. Remove casserole from oven. Pour in enough wine to almost cover chicken. Add chicken stock to finish covering it.
5. Add tomato paste, garlic, one teaspoon thyme and two bay leaves to the chicken. Bring liquid to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover casserole and continue simmering for 30 minutes. Prepare onions and mushrooms while chicken is simmering.
6. Melt six tablespoons margarine and six tablespoons oil in skillet. Sauté onions over high heat until they are as evenly browned as possible. Pour in 1 ½ cups wine. Add herb bouquet. Cover skillet and simmer onions 30 minutes or until tender. Remove onions from skillet. Set aside. Do not wash skillet before browning mushrooms.
7. Wipe mushrooms clean. Cut off stems. Quarter the larger mushrooms and leave small mushrooms whole. Heat six tablespoons margarine and three tablespoons oil until they foam in skillet. Add mushrooms. Shake skillet until all mushrooms are coated with margarine and are slightly browned. Remove mushrooms from pan. Set aside. (You may now wash the skillet.)
8. When chicken has finished cooking, remove it from the sauce and set aside. Chill sauce several hours or overnight until the fat congeals at the top (Wrap the chicken well with plastic wrap if you chill it and the sauce overnight.)
9. Take sauce out of refrigerator and remove fat. Bring chicken to room temperature. Boil sauce down until it has been reduced by 25 %. Discard bay leaves. Blend six tablespoons margarine and flour until they form a paste. Whisk paste into the hot wine sauce. Simmer two minutes until sauce thickens enough to coat a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.  Return chicken to the sauce with onions and mushrooms and heat over a low flame until chicken is hot. Serve coq au vin piping hot with rice, orzo or noodles and a green vegetable.

Note: If you are a confirmed white meat eater, you will eat the dark meat when prepared like this. In addition, this recipe gets even better when prepared a day or two in advance and can be frozen. There is just no downside.

TO FREEZE: Cool coq au vin completely. Cover with waxed paper and then with heavy duty tin foil before placing in freezer.