The Epicurean Table - www.epicureantable.com

poultry - chicken, champagne, braise, recipe

t=teaspoon T=tablespoon

These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives other works.

Coq au Champagne Patrice
We had lunch once in the Ardenne region of southeast Belgium where coq au champagne is a regional classic there. This is no wonder. The province of Champagne is the next region, just a little further south into France. The meat of the slowly cooked chicken was served loosened from the bone. We savoured the resulting reduction of juices and vegetables that we soaked up with the regional bread and it was heavenly.

A chat with the cook revealed that nut oil and egg yolk was used to flavour and thicken the sauce slightly. Ah yes...and a note of Marc du Champagne. Not having the actual recipe, here is my version - which we agreed was perhaps even better than what we lunched on that day. I purposely used less crème fraîche and I think that was a deciding point in favour of my version. Use a dry champagne for this Ardenne version of the classic 'Coq au Vin' - which is a more robust dish.

I once used leftover pink champagne which was a good quality, not expensive but was superb for this recipe. And yes, yesterday's leftover party bubbly is a perfectly good excuse to make this recipe! (I do encourage you to look around for the fresh herbs if you don't grow them.)

serves 2 generously or 4 for late night sampling with your favourite champagne,

white or rosé wine
The coq will marinate for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.

1 sm. coq (young rooster about 1 kilo)

for the marinade:

1 sm. leek finely sliced

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 med. carrot, finely sliced in rounds
1 lg. garlic clove, chopped

750 ml. dry champagne depending on size of coq (dry rosé champagne is very fine for this)

to braise:

1 T. butter

a little nut oil (hazel nut best)

200 m. chicken or vegetable stock

50 ml. marc du champagne (this is the French answer to Italian grappa which you can equally use as a substitute)

1 onion, minced (use a sweet, white one)

1sprig thyme (or about 1/8 t. dry)

2 sprigs tarragon (or a bout 1/8 t. dry)

1 sm. bunch of chives (about 12 pieces

3-4 parsley sprigs

1 bay leaf
salt, pepper a good pinch of each

1 good T. crème fraîche

2 egg yolk

Cut the chicken into pieces, leaving the skin intact. Reserve the wings, neck and back. Place the rest in a large enough bowl or casserole. Add the vegetables for the marinade, pour over the champagne to cover. Use a large spoon to redistribute the vegetables evenly around and under the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.

In the meantime, make a stock from the wings, neck and back, a little green from the leek, a bay leaf and salt and pepper. On the next day, skim off the fat.

Remove the chicken and pat dry, brushing off any vegetable. Strain the marinade and set aside. Discard the vegetables. Heat the oil with the butter until the butter foams. Brown the chicken for 5 minutes per side. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Strain off most of oil and reserve.

Sauté the minced onion in the same pan for a few minutes, adding just a little of the reserved oil if necessary to prevent sticking. Because of the sugar in the sweet onion, they will begin to caramelize quickly. Add a few spoons of water and continue to sauté for 5 minutes.

Add half of the coarsely chopped herbs (leave the bay leaf whole) and continue to sauté for another minute. Add the chicken and pepper and distribute the pan ingredients well.

Carefully warm the marc du champagne (or grappa) in a long handled small pan. For safety reasons, turn off all heat. Touch a match to the marc (flambé) and pour carefully over the chicken. When the flames have gone out, turn up the heat again, add half the reserved marinade, after a few minutes cover loosely and braise slowly for about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on size of chicken. Turn the chicken after 20 minutes and add the rest of the herbs. The chicken is done when the meat easily loosens from the bone.

Add more champagne marinade or stock if necessary to prevent drying (see note below.)

Lift out the chicken to a warmed deep serving platter, cover and keep warm. Add the rest of the champagne marinade to the pan, allow the liquid to reduce about a third, strain and return to pan. Remove from heat. You should have about a generous cup (+- 300 ml.) of liquid or a little more. If not, add a little stock. Discard the herbs. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper.

Stir the egg yolks into the crème fraîche and a little of the reduction and whisk back into the cooking liquid. Allow to heat without simmering until thick. This must be closely watched otherwise it will curdle! Pour over the chicken and garnish with a little minced chive or parsley (see tip below).

Serve with Green Beans and Russet Potatoes with Marjory. And lots of bread to soak up the sauce. White or rosé wine goes with this.

Note: yes, this recipe be done with a small chicken but it will not taste quite the same. A young coq is worth the effort to look for or order from your butcher. Look for a good, not too expensive, dry pink champagne...it does make a difference!

Tip: because chicken breast dries out before the dark meat is done, I like to add the breast meat after the rest has cooked 15 minutes.

Note: if the liquid has reduced through the braising, remove the chicken when done to a warmed deep platter and add more stock or champagne before continuing.

Tip: adding yolk to a sauce to thicken is very traditional. Remove the pan from the heat source while you prepare the yolk and crème fraîche before whisking in. Return to low heat, tilting pan back and forth so that direct contact with the heat source is avoided. Stir constantly and do not allow to bubble. IF it curdles anyway, strain add back to the pan. Make a paste of cornstarch (1 tsp.) and a little cool stock. Add a little sauce to this and carefully reheat very briefly, stirring constantly. This will save your sauce.

All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be

added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.