Coq au Vin à la Quercynoise

Monday July 14

Something to celebrate Bastille Day. We got the recipe out of our much-spattered copy of the Larousse Book of Country Cooking. As specified in Peter Hertzmann's thorough treatment of the subject, this type of coq au vin is supposed to be made with wine of Cahors. On the same page, Hertzmann beautifully sums up the basics of coq au vin:

"Bacon and vegetables, usually onions and carrots, were cooked on top of the stove until the bacon rendered some of its fat and the vegetables started to cook a bit. These were either pushed to the side or removed from the pan and the chicken, whether old or young, large or small, hen or rooster, which was cut into serving pieces, usually eight, and browned in bacon fat. Some form of high-proof spirits, cognac, armagnac, marc, or eau-de-vie, was then added and ignited. Flour was then sprinkled onto the ingredients and mixed in. Wine was added to dissolve the flour. Any reserved vegetables were added back to the pan along with some mushrooms and herbs. The mixture was then placed over a low flame and cooked, covered, until the chicken was done."

We couldn't agree more. We used bacon, onions, two normal supermarket-Amish chicken breasts (one split breast), cognac (Larousse says Armagnac, but cognac is what we have; at least it had Napoleon on the label), no flour, three-buck-Chuck's merlot, parsley, thyme, and "baby bella" (crimini) mushrooms.

Allons, enfants de la Patrie...