Coq au Vin & Crêpes

Main: Coq au Vin
Delicious – Faking It (Valli Little)

Dessert: Simple Crêpes
Taste

Hi Everyone!

Hope you’ve had a great week.

I’ve turned again this week to the Delicious book called Faking It. Recipes by Valli Little. This is one of my go to books when I am short on time but keen to impress. I chose the Easy Coq au Vin and true to it’s name, it was super simple to prepare and super packed with flavour. I was worried that because it was fast and I’m use to Coq au Vin being a bit of a lengthy process, that it would be less flavoursome but not the case.

Brush the bread with garlic oil before putting under the grill

I loved that it used the toasted baguettes sitting at the side of the plate to soak up the sauce. I actually brushed the bread with garlic oil before I toasted them under the grill, just to add a little punch to them. Another suggestion from the very enthusiastic audience that the Coq au Vin had, was to serve it on mash. In fact, mash of all varieties – potato, sweet potato, cauliflower. It could also be served on your favourite pasta. Whatever you decide, it will go down very well with it’s audience and you will look like a star. I’m going to be cooking this one and freezing it as a standby for those busy days. 10/10

Well, the MAV was desperate to cook Crêpe Suzette and he did the crêpes themselves in advance and was ready to make the sauce after we had gobbled up the Coq au Vin. Disaster struck and the MAV burnt the sugar which can happen to anyone if you take your eye off the ball or in this case the beautiful Le Creuset pan. Not all was lost though and we had the crêpes with maple syrup and ice-cream. YUM! 8/10

Pre-cook the crêpes and then just warm them up in the microwave

So disasters and all, it turned out to be a really great meal and I certainly didn’t feel as though it had taken a huge effort to get it to the table. Really worth trying this one.

Until next week…..

From my table to yours with love x

Coq au Vin (Easy)

8 eschalots (peeled)
1 tbsp olive oil
60 g sliced pancetta (cut into strips)
8 chicken thigh fillets (cut into 3cm pieces)
2 tbsp plain flour
3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
150 g button mushrooms (quartered)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 c good-quality chicken stock or chicken consommé
1 c dry red wine
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (chopped)
2 bay leaves
chopped flat-leaf parsley and toasted baguette, to serve (brush baguette with garlic oil before toasting)

Par-cook the eschalots in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large deep frypan or casserole pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until starting to crisp. Season chicken, then add to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes until lightly browned. Add flour and stir to coat chicken, then stir in the garlic, mushrooms and tomato paste.
Once everything is well combined, add the stock, wine, thyme, bay leaves and eschalots. Season well, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
Serve the coq au vin in deep bowls with parsley and toasted baguette to mop up the lovely sauce.

Main Course

French

Basic crêpes recipe

1 c plain Flour
2 c milk
3 eggs
butter for greasing the pan

Sift flour into a bowl.
Whisk eggs and milk together in a jug and forming a well in the flour pour the egg mixture into the flour and gently combine.
Grease an 18cm non-stick fry-pan. Pour 2½ tablespoons of the batter into the pan and swirl it around to cover the base. Cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly brown. Turn and cook the other side until lightly brown.
Remove to a plate and repeat. It is a good idea to put greaseproof between the crêpes if you are not using immediately. Serve with ice-cream and syrup.

Dessert

French