Coq au vin deux or redux

Wednesday 19 November

Disaster averted. I had thought about putting the remains of the tough old bird back into the slow-cooker, but was basically too lazy to haul the damn thing out again. So I added some black olives (to give it the zip it seemed to lack last time), put it in a saucepan with some more red wine, on low on the stupidhead stove, and headed into the subterranean vastness of the Batcave to do some work. Quel almost désastre! After an hour or so, lost in the fun of correcting proofs, I smelled a little burnt smell drifting down the stairs. Sure enough, even the very low setting on the accursed electric stove was too high. The involuntary caramelization wasn't too far along, however, and I managed to pull off the top, unburnt layer. Provided that you thought "barbeque" rather than "ruined," it was fine served over a mess of garlic mashed potatoes. These were the PEI spuds with which we had been plied at the Royal Agricultural. A little bit too watery if boiled, but still pretty nice.