Ben's Day Wednesday

Coq Au Vin

Posted on by Liz

We have been making this French dish for years, and though it sounds a little like “Cocoa Van” when we say it, there isn’t any cocoa involved, just delicious chicken in a red wine sauce. This week’s batch was particularly delicious, and we got to eat it with Charlie, who was here painting. Ben kept saying, “This is a great party!” I don’t know if it was a party, exactly, but it sure was nice to have some company, and Ben was pretty pleased with himself. I remember the first time I made a meal for friends (which happened to be roasted chicken, served in a second floor apartment of Goerz Hall in North Newton, Kansas, about 34 years ago), so I understand the satisfaction of pulling off the adult skill of cooking for other people. Usually, the consumption of our Ben’s Day Wednesday fare is a family thing, but Ben appreciates every chance he has, especially these days, to be with other people. So do we!

Quick Coq Au Vin

1/2 pound bacon slices, coarsely chopped

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, divided

8 ounces large baby Bella mushrooms, halved

8 large shallots, peeled, halved through root end

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

1 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided

4 teaspoons flour

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sauté bacon in large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towel lined plate.
  2. Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon parsley. Add chicken in two batches to hot drippings in skillet, and sauté until cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer to casserole dish (reserving skillet) and place in oven to keep warm while you make the sauce.
  3. Add mushrooms and shallots to skillet, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sauté until brown, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 10 seconds. Add wine, 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, bacon, and 1 tablespoon parsley. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and gently boil 10 minutes.
  4. Place flour in a small bowl, add 1/4 cup broth, and stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to sauce, and cook until sauce thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Taste sauce, and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
  5. We always serve this on a big platter with long fusilli pasta. Pasta is the first layer. Next, we place the chicken on top, along with juices from the casserole dish. Finally, we pour the sauce over everything, and top with remaining parsley. 
Bon Appetit! 
For dessert, Ben and I made a delicious plum pistachio crisp, which we served with vanilla ice cream.

Plum Pistachio Crisp

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped into pieces

1 cup shelled, salted pistachios

2 pounds small plums, pitted and quartered

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make topping by combining flour, brown sugar, cardamom and salt in food processor. Add butter and pistachios, pulsing to combine, so that some pea-sized chunks of butter and pistachios remain.
  2. In casserole dish, combine plums, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
  3. Top plum mixture with topping, and bake 55-65 minutes, until fruit bubbles throughout, and the topping is golden brown and crisped.
Chef Ben washes the plums.
Chef Ben sprinkles sugar on the plums.
Chef Ben knows his way around a lemon juicer.
And then…chaos! I turned my back for a second, and the kitchen looked like this! What happened? A forensic investigation of the crime scene revealed that when Phil stepped in the kitchen to help make a Caesar salad, things fell apart. Every surface was cluttered with kitchen debris, all the cupboard doors were open, and even Chef Ben muttered, “I don’t know what’s going on in here.”
Phil told Charlie, a budding economist, he could book the meal as working hours, since it was cutting into his earning power. Charlie’s mom told me he came home that evening and asked how much his parents were going to pay him to eat, at the going rate of $12 an hour!