From Scratch With Love

Coq Au Vin

Although we are animal-lovers, the main purpose behind us having chickens, is so we can grow our own food. I feel it is important I don’t shy away from being able to grow and process that meat ourselves. Recently our Rooster had been very aggressive not only with us but also our hens. It was time to give him a new purpose.

Julia Child’s Coq au Vin
For the Coq au Vin
85g bacon
1kg diced chicken
56g soft butter
70ml cognac
700ml red wine (I used Bordeaux)
235ml chicken stock (homemade bone broth)
1/2 Tb spoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
Sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
28g flour

Remove the rind from the bacon and cut into lardons. Fry the bacon in 28g of the butter until brown.

Remove the bacon and add the portioned chicken to the bacon grease. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and fry until brown.

Return the bacon to the pan with the chicken, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the cognac and, if you like, set it on fire. Good luck.

Add the wine, chicken stock, garlic, tomato paste, bay leaf and sprig of thyme and cover and cook until your chicken is tender. If using a rooster that's older than 3 mi the, you may want to pop him in the oven and braise low and slow for 90 min at 300F.

Begin on the beurre manié. Mix the flour and remaining 28g of butter together to form a paste.

Remove the chicken from the liquid and place on a serving bowl. Continue cooking the liquid until it has reduced to about a pint’s worth of liquid.

Whisk the beurre manié into the liquid until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
Pour the thickened liquid over the chicken and serve with either noodles or parsley potatoes.

Been forever, but wanted to share a bit about a Christmas brunch!Brunch! Oooo brunch...
Homemade bagels with schmear and lox, tons of fruit, Christmas cookies (including cake balls, gingersnap, sugar cookies and fudge), red velvet cake, ham, 40 deviled eggs (all gone in a blink of an eye) an egg casserole, Mushroom puff pastry, Nutella puffpastry...a d Homemade eggnog!

Avocado toast on homemade sourdough