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Chicken Thighs Braised in Red Wine (Coq au Vin)

Ingredients

  • 2 slices bacon cut into 1/4" dice
  • 1 onion peeled and sliced
  • a handful of white mushrooms sliced
  • 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken thighs or whatever you have around
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup "yesterday's red wine" as Jamie Oliver would say
  • 1 bay leaf
  • a few sprigs of fresh thyme
  • a few sprigs of fresh parsley
  • 1 Tbs of butter if you remember!

Instructions

  • Put the bacon in a deep pot, like a Dutch oven, and cook over medium high heat, stirring, about 10 minutes. The bacon should be crisp and the fat should be rendered by then. Add the onion, mushrooms and chicken. If you're using chicken with skin, place it skin side down so it can brown.  Cook about 5-8 minutes, moving things around now and then.
  • Add the garlic and sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken pieces.  Cook another 5-8 minutes.
  • Drain any excess fat. I like to put the lid of the pot on and then make it slightly askew and pour the fat off into an old can which can go in the garbage.
  • Add the chicken broth, wine and herbs. Adjust the heat so it's at a low simmer and cover and cook for 20 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Remove the chicken and and boil the liquid down until it is reduced by about 3/4 and becomes thick.  Lower the heat and stir in the butter, then return the chicken to the pan and stir so the chicken is coated with the sauce. Leave in long enough to warm the chicken through.