Coq au Vin

The Bacon:

• 4 ounces lean thick-cut bacon
  
  

The Chicken

• 2 1/2 to 3 pounds cut-up frying chicken
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 2 cups red wine (Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti)**
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
  
  

Onion

• 12 to 24 small white onions, peeled (or double the amount if you want to use tiny frozen peeled raw onions)*
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

Mushrooms

• 1/2 pound fresh muchrooms, quartered if large
• 1 T butter
• 1 T olive oil

The Bacon

1. Remove any rind off the bacon and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4-inch across and 1-inch long).
2. In a saucepan, simmer the bacon sticks in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes; remove from heat, drain, rinse in cold water, and pat dry.
3. In a large heavy frying pan, casserole dish, or electric skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil until moderately hot. Add the bacon and saute slowly until they are lightly browned. Remove bacon to a side dish, leaving the oil in the pan.

The Chicken

1. Dry chicken thoroughly in a towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Place chicken pieces into the hot oil (not crowding pan), and brown on all sides. Return bacon to the pan, cover pan, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning chicken once.
3. After browning the chicken, uncover pan, pour in the cognac. Flambé by igniting with a lighted match. Let flame a minute, swirling pan by its handle to burn off alcohol; extinguish with pan cover.
4. Pour the red wine into the pan and add just enough chicken broth to completely cover the chicken pieces. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cover pan, and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until the chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork or an instant-read meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
5. When the chicken is done cooking, remove from the pan to a platter, leaving the cooking liquid in the pan.

Onions

1. While chicken is cooking, drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to the boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, drain and cool onions in ice water.
2. Shave off the two ends (root and stem ends) of each onion, peel carefully, and pierce a deep cross in the root end with a small knife (to keep onions whole during cooking).
3. In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil, add parboiled onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned (this will be a patchy brown). Add water to halfway up onions and add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover pan and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierce with a knife.
4. NOTE: Onions may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving. 

Mushrooms

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil; when bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and saute over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat.

Sauce

1. Boil the chicken cooking liquid to high heat boil repidly until approximately 2 cups of liquid remain.
2. While the liquid is boiling, in a small bowl, blend the 3 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons softened butter into a smooth paste; beat the flour/butter mixture into the approximately 2 cups hot cooking liquid with a whisk. Simmer and stir for a minute or two until the sauce has thickened (the result will be a sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon - just thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables lightly). If sauce is too thin, boil down rapidly to concentrate; if sauce is too thick, thin out with additional spoonfuls of chicken stock. Taste the final sauce, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.

Serving

1. Return the cooked chicken to the cooking liquid, bring it to the simmer, and simmer, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Either serve from the casserole dish or arrange the chicken on a large platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Arrange the Brown-Braised Onions on one side of the chicken and the Mushrooms on the other side. Decorate with sprigs of parsley. Accompany with parsley potatoes, rice, or noodles; buttered green peas or a green salad; hot French bread; and the same red wine you used for cooking the chicken.NOTE: This dish is traditionally served with wide egg noodles.