Ina Garten makes Coq au Vin, a French chicken and wine dish with mushrooms and bacon. She begins by chopping up four ounces of bacon and cooking it until crisp. She had a butcher cut a whole chicken into 10 pieces, which she liberally seasons with salt and pepper. She removes the cooked bacon from the pan using a slotted spoon so she can brown the chicken in the bacon fat remaining. She browns a few pieces at a time, noting that if you overfill the pan, you end up steaming the chicken instead of browning it. Once the chicken is browned, she removes it from the pan. She then adds to the pan half a pound of carrots cut in big pieces, one sliced yellow onion and one minced garlic clove. She adds a quarter cup of cognac to add flavor and help deglaze the pan. She returns the chicken and bacon to the pot. Ina then adds half a bottle of burgundy wine, a cup of chicken stock and a big sprig of fresh thyme to the pot. She covers the pot and cooks it in the oven for one hour at 250 degrees F. She then halves half a pound of cremini mushrooms and sautes them in butter. Ina removes the pot from the oven and begins preparing a roux to thicken the coq au vin. She mixes together one and a half tablespoons of flour with one tablespoon of softened butter and adds the roux to the pot. She adds some frozen baby onions and the cooked mushrooms to the pot, and gives it a stir before dishing it up.
Food Network teaches how to crush, slice and mince garlic. Peel off some of the papery skin from the garlic and then smash the head of garlic with the heel of your hand to loosen the cloves; if you only need a few cloves, leave the head intact and pull some off. Separate the cloves. To peel a clove, cut away the root end with your knife. Lay the flat side of the knife over the clove while holding the knife handle, then with the heel of your free hand carefully whack the knife against the garlic to separate the skin from the clove. To crush the peeled garlic, lay the flat side of the knife over the clove and smash it again. To slice peeled garlic, lay the clove flat on the cutting board and hold it with the fingertips of one hand, keeping them curled under. Using a rocking motion with the knife, make thin slices by moving the knife slowly across the clove. To mince peeled garlic, lay the flat side of a knife over the clove and smash it. Roughly chop the clove then move your free hand flat across the tip of the knife and use a rocking motion to chop the garlic until it’s finely minced.
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.
Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done. Set aside.
Add the carrots, onions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.
Mash 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium saute pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.