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Needed comfort food today.  This morning, Rachel Ray had Emeril on, and they made Coq au Vin.  I didn't watch the entire show, but got the idea, pulled out my cookbooks, and ran out and bought a heavy dutch oven.    What struck me was that he said...his words, but not in correct order....dredge chicken in flour...you can use rice flour...and it's optional.  Same thing for thickening.  While he didn't jump up and down yelling, "gluten-free version", that was my interpretation....and it is so much more sensitive then making a big deal out of it.

Coq au vin isn't really hard to make, and I made up my own version, blending his version with two cookbook recipes.  (I like to wing it with stuff I have in the frig.  All I was missing was the pot!)

Preheat oven to 350, while you're doing everything else.  (I had mine on convection 325)

Heat up the heavy pot.  Then add a drizzle (coat the bottom) with olive oil.    When the olive oil is hot (pretty quickly).....sautee bacon slivers or pork or salami, or bologna or nothing......His recipe called for bacon slivers.  One cookbook I had called for pork.  One didn't call for anything like this, but I had sliced bologna (kosher) in frig, so I cut  it into small pieces and used it for flavor.

Put about 2 cups of your choice of flour in a baggie and add the chicken. Seal bag and shake. Or, he says you don't need to dredge in flour at all.

If you are just using olive oil...now is the time to brown about 4 pieces at a time.  Make sure the pieces turn light brown and crispy.  OR if you've sauteed bacon, etc., first remove that stuff and scrape the bottom of the pot into the oil to get the flavor.  I used very little oil, but kept having to add more.  (The idea behind using bacon or pork is to render the fat, but I keep kosher, so used neither. One recipe said if there is a lot of fat, to spoon some off. You just want enough oil to coat the pan...maybe an eighth of an inch..)

While the chicken is cooking,  mix up vegetables and herbs.  I put them into a large bowl to minimize how many things I'd have to wash.
one package, diced fresh mushrooms (I used baby portabellos), 
onions...I cubed 3 large ones...but recipes call for small onions and shallots, 
2 stalks celery inch size chunks.  (Emerill's recipe called for fennel and parsnip, but I didn't want to use them.)
several sprigs of parsley or dried parsley
2 bay leaves  (Remember to remove these before serving.)
3 or 4 cloves diced, smushed garlic
I added three carrots  cut in chunks. None of the recipes called for carrots.
about a tsp of fresh rosemary or a tiny shake of dried rosemary
pepper and salt.  I'm heavy on the pepper and light on the salt

Don't forget to turn your chicken over, while you're dicing and slicing.

When chicken pieces are brown, remove to a separate bowl or pan. No need to drain them.   If the flour thickened the oil, you may have to freshen the olive oil with a little more olive oil. Then put in all the spices and vegetables and stir.  Saute for maybe five minutes, then add one cup of wine and cook for about 10 more minutes.  (I used white) wine.  Most recipes call for red.

When the veggies cook down a bit, add chicken on top.  If you used pork or bacon, you're supposed to add that too.  I chose not to add the bologna back in.  Cover and put in oven until chicken is done.  I cooked mine for about 2 hours.    One of my cookbooks said two and a half hours.  The other said to fry it longer and then simmer with veggies and wine for only a half hour on top of the stove.  My chicken was done in two hours, for sure. And out of this world.

I don't normally fry food, but some times you just have to have to indulge.  And unfortunately, I sometimes react to wine, and sure enough, I am terribly red as a beet and itching like I just played in poison ivy. I just took a Benedryl!!! (I also had a sip with dinner.)  So I guess I won't be making this very often.  Shouldn't make anything where Benedryl has to be my dessert!



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