Our weekly “À Table”dinner series gets its name from the mealtime call to the dining table. Since 2018, we have invited friends new and old to share a meal focusing on food, music and traditions from various places in the Francophone world. It has proved to be a fun way to connect with friends and practice our spoken French. Here on our site, we share portraits of some of our favorite meals so that you can easily do a version of the same chez vous Bon Appétit!
story
Coq au Vin
As we prepared to wrap up for the summer I was determined to cook two classic French recipes that I had been, well, not so much as avoiding, as waiting to be ready for the challenge. Those two were, of course, Coq au Vin and Beef Bourguignon.
Coq au Vin was actually also the first thing I ever cooked in New York City, way back in 2000. I didn’t cook in my downtown Manhattan “kitchen” (barely a closet with a refrigerator), but one day at my friend Beth’s apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, I “helped” her make Coq au Vin. In truth I do not remember how I helped besides cutting carrots, but I remember dancing while we waited for it to cook, and I remember the delicious results.
This time, alone in the kitchen I looked to Julia Child and Paul Bocuse for their recipes. I had snatched Paul Bocuse’s 1976 cookbook “Paul Bocuse’s French Cooking” for $10 at a thrift store, and though I generally follow Julia Child’s detailed recipes, I also check back with Bocuse to see how he did things differently. Not unlike the agreable steam in the Poulet de Bresse en Soupiére, he was good for a chuckle, too. This time it was his granting of permission to housewives to take liberties with his recipes. Why, Merci, Monsieur Bocuse.
music
Brassens & Pierre de Gaillande
Perhaps also filed under “permission to put your own spin on old classics,” the brilliant Pierre de Gaillande creates and records incredible English renditions of George Brassens’ songs. This playlist matches his two three (3rd album was released Feb 2023, and playlist updated soon after*) full albums of songs with their original, French version by the great Brassens. Especially for someone learning French, it’s fun to hear them in succession.
If you are in the Brooklyn area, look for him at Barbès several times a year, often for Brassens birthday in October which is incidentally how I discovered both Brassens and de Gaillande back in October 2021. Or add yourself to his newsletter to know when he is playing elsewhere upstate and around the globe.
These three albums (as well as many others from his myriad of musical projects) are available on his site, and I encour
* Spring 2023 update: As Pierre de Gaillande released his 3rd album of translations, my family is in France as temporary Parisians, and as it happens, we live just a short walk from Parc George Brassens. 🙂
recipe
Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin
Equipment
- large heavy-bottomed dutch oven
- stainless mesh tea strainer – makes bouquet garni easy for onions
- lighter with a long nose – to aid with lighting the cognac on fire.
Ingredients
- Oignons Glacés à Brun recipe below
- Champignons Sautés au Beurre recipe below
- 5 oz pork belly* rind removed and cut into lardons rectangles 1" long x ¼" thick
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2½ – 3 lbs cut-up frying chicken**
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup cognac i used bourbon
- 3 cups full-bodied red wine Burgundy, Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône, or Chianti
- 1-2 cups brown chicken stock, or canned beef bouillon
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 tbsp softened butter
For Serving
- hot buttered peas
- parsley potatoes
- springs or parsley garnish
Instructions
- Prepare Oignons Glacés à Brun per the recipe here.
- Prepare Champignons Sautés au Beurre per the recipe here.
- Get all of the remaining ingredients prepared per the amounts above (mis en place).
- Heat the dutch oven to medium add butter, and when hot, sauté the bacon slowly until it is very lightly browned. Remove to a side dish and cover.
- Dry the chicken thoroughly and brown it in the hot fat in the casserole adding more butter if needed. Work in in batches if needed, so as not to crowd the pan. Keep the browned chicken warm while cooking the rest.
- Season the chicken. Return the bacon to the casserole with the chicken. Cover and cook slowly for 3 minutes, just to warm up the bacon and let flavors meld a tad.
- Uncover, and pour in the cognac. Averting your face, ignite the cognac with a long lighter or lighted match. Shake the casserole back and forth for several seconds until the flames subside.
- Pour the wine into the casserole. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. Add just enough stock or bouillon to cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer slowly for 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and its juices run a clear yellow when the meat is pricked with a fork (depends on cuts used). When fully cooked, remove the chicken to a side dish and keep covered. .
- Simmer the remaining cooking liquid in the casserole for a minute or two, skimming off fat. Then raise heat and boil rapidly, reducing the liquid to about 2¼ cups. Correct the salt and pepper seasoning, remove from heat, and discard the bay leaves.
- Meanwhile, make a bit of a roux in a small fry pan. Heat it up, melt the butter, and blend the flour into it, mixing it into a smooth paste (beurre manie). Beat the paste into the hot liquid with a wire whip. Bring this to the simmer, stirring, and simmer for a minute or two. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
- Add the chicken back into the pot, along with the mushrooms and onions, and baste with the sauce. If the dish is not to be served immediately, film the top of the sauce with stock or dot with small pieces of butter. Set aside uncovered. It can now wait indefinitely.
- Shortly before serving, gently bring the coq au vin to the simmer, basting the chicken with the sauce. Cover and simmer slowly for a few minutes, until the chicken is warmed through.
- Serve from the casserole, or arrange on a hot platter. Serve with Parsley Potatoes and hot buttered peas, and decorate with sprigs of parsley.
Notes
recipe
Oignons Glacés à Brun
Oignons Glacés à Brun
Equipment
- heavy bottomed skillet large enough to fit onions in one layer
- closable tea strainer or cheese cloth for bouquet garni
Ingredients
- 40-45 1" pearl or small white onions, peeled or fewer, if bigger onions
- 3 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup beef stock
- salt to taste depends on butter and stock
Bouquet Garni
- 8 sprigs parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- Get a glass of wine and begin the tedious process of peeling all those tiny onions! Boil water for broth, if using concentrated.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pot to medium, and when hot, add the butter. When bubbling subsides, add the oil. Then add the onions and sauté for about 15 minutes rolling them around so that they brown. Stir gently to keep skins intact, but also enough to brown evenly as much as possible.
- Meanwhile prepare your bouquet garni. We like to use a closable ball tea strainer.
- Add the broth and bouquet garni. Simmer for 45 minutes, covered, until the onions are tender, but have retained their shape. Most liquid will evaporate.
- Remove the bouquet garni and enjoy them as a side, or put them aside to put in your boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin.
recipe
Champignons Sautés au Beurre
Champignons Sautés au Beurre
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh button or baby bella mushrooms
- 4 tbsp butter
- olive oil
Instructions
- Wash and dry mushrooms well in advance so that they are perfectly dry before cooking.
- If mushrooms are small, leave them whole. If they are larger, quarter them. If a mix, treat each differently, ending with pieces of relatively the same size.
- Heat skillet on high with butter and oil. When butter foam begins to subside, add the mushrooms, stirring to coat as much as possible. At first, the mushrooms will absorb the fat, then they will begin to brown, in all after about 5 minutes.
- When lightly browned, remove from heat.
Notes
recipe
Parsley Potatoes
For this recipe I turned to Jacques Pèpin, via NY Times Cooking. Simple, delicious, and a great accompaniment not only for Coq au Vin, but many other meats. or even raclette… mmmmmm.
recipe
Buttered Peas
No recipe here, just cook the peas in a saucepan with a bit of water and a good amount of full-fat European butter, salt and pepper. But next time I’ll try this interesting recipe for peas which Thomas Jefferson wrote home about when he was in France.
Speaking of Jefferson in France… have you seen our DIY Hamilton, the Musical tours (part 1 and part 2) in New York City and Weehawken, NJ? Don’t “Wait For It!”
Bon Appétit!