We are nearing the end of National vinegar month and what better way to end it with a Coq Au Vin made using Balsamic Vinegar…Coq Au Vin is a classic French dish and there are many versions and many cooks who think theirs is the most authentic and the best…

However, it is all down to taste…individual taste…some add carrots some don’t…

Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com

Take wine, shallots, mushrooms some aromatics and a chook…

Ingredients:

• 25g butter
• 150g shallots, peeled but left whole
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 150g bacon lardons
• A sprig of fresh thyme or a good pinch of dried thyme.
• 350g button mushrooms…Chestnut or Crimini are my favourites.
• 500ml good red wine…I love a nice burgundy.
• 500ml chicken stock
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 free-range chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces, on the bone but skin removed (or 6 chicken thighs)
• A small bunch flatleaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and freshly crushed black pepper.

Let’s Cook!

Using a thick bottomed pan heat it on the stove, add almost all the butter (reserving a knob of the butter) and the shallots. Cook until just browned; add the lardons and thyme and cook for 3-5 minutes then add the garlic cook for a further 1-2 mins.

Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat and add the red wine, chicken stock and vinegar. Add the chicken pieces, bring the sauce to the boil and then simmer gently for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

For a thicker sauce, remove the chicken once it is cooked and keep warm. Cook the sauce over high heat for a few minutes until the volume of liquid has reduced. Return the chicken back to the pan.

Add the parsley, together with the reserved knob of butter. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with a dressed green salad and olive oil, new potatoes (my favourite) mash or crusty bread.

For my vegetarian and vegan readers...I found this lovely recipe on my vegan plate...Enjoy!

About Carol Taylor: 

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a fabulous week and stay safe these are troubling times xx