Eat for Eight Bucks: Coq au Two-Buck Chuck
Shopping List
1 bottle Charles Shaw merlot: $1.99 to $2.99
6 pieces dark-meat chicken: $2.19
1 large yellow onion: $0.38
1 large carrot: $0.28
Bunch parsley: $0.69
3 strips bacon (pro-rated): $0.99
Pantry items:
Garlic, bay leaf, flour
Total: $6.52 to $7.52
I spent much of my junior year of college in Dijon, a mustard town in the heart of wine country.
In this part of France, treating college students as though they were pyromaniacs is a time-honored tradition. Rather than see their property go up in flames, Burgundian landlords furnish the kitchens of their short-term rentals with nothing more than a plug-in hot plate. So it was on this sorry excuse for a heat source that I learned to make another regional tradition: coq au vin, or chicken braised in red wine.
When I arrived in Dijon, feeling lonely and flush, I had treated myself to a rich rendition of the dish at Brasserie La Concorde. It was tender, intensely flavored, and, on a student's allowance, completely unaffordable. So, back home in my little studio, I hacked vegetables into pieces with a utility knife and cooked chicken in the wine I could afford--that is, €1 bottles of the local vin de table, wine so rough that producers are barred by law from calling it Burgundy. Some pretty sorry stews resulted from my early experiments, but I persevered--with more diligence, I am no longer ashamed to admit, than I pursued my studies.
Don't Cook with a Wine You Wouldn't Drink?
When those studies ended and I returned to my former life, I was dismayed to learn that, without even knowing it, I'd been flouting one of the golden rules of epicurism: Don't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. I felt instinctively that this was a false commandment--if you're not going to drink it, what else are you supposed to do with it?--but I could hardly argue with conventional wisdom, let alone Julia Child's:
If you do not have a good wine to use, it is far better to omit it, for a poor one can spoil a simple dish and utterly debase a noble one.
I was to remain dismayed for several years, until my instincts were vindicated by Julia Moskin in the New York Times. In a piece remarkable for its offbeat tasting notes--"hints of Skittles and off-brand caramels," "a perfume of Club Med piña coladas"--and the degree to which the author Keeps It Real, Moskin debunks the living daylights out of the axiom. In one of several taste tests, risottos made with a $70 Barolo and mid-range dolcetto d'Alba are easily defeated by a version simmered in Trader Joe's very own Charles Shaw cabernet.
This past weekend, with Moskin's findings in mind, I revisited the coq au vin of my college days. I have a gas stove now, and all the equipment I could need. But that bottle of Two-Buck Merlot (Three-Buck, here on the East Coast) was even worse than the vin de table I used to cook with in France.
In the stew, though, it was great.
Coq au Two-Buck Chuck
- serves 2 -
Ingredients
3 strips bacon, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
6 pieces skin-on, dark-meat chicken (mix of thighs and drumsticks)
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Large yellow onion, finely sliced
Large carrot, cut in 1/2-inch rounds
Garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons Charles Shaw merlot
Bay leaf
Parsley, leaves only, minced
Procedure
1. Place the bacon in a large, heavy pot and cook over low heat until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp. Remove bacon from pan and set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high. Sear chicken pieces in bacon fat until golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken pieces and set aside.
3. Pour off fat, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan. Add carrots, onions and garlic and sauté until onions are soft and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with flour, stir to distribute, and sauté for an additional minute. Deglaze pan with 2 tablespoons of wine, scraping up all the sucs, or brown bits, with a wooden spoon.
4. Return chicken and bacon to the pan. Add bay leaf and remaining red wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the sauce is mellow and thickened, and the carrots tender but not disintegrating. Check and adjust seasoning.
5. Serve with your favorite potato dish, or thick egg noodles. Sprinkle with minced parsley before serving.
About the author: Michele Humes writes Georgia On My Thighs.
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21 Comments:
so why did your stews in Dijon taste so bad if it wasn't the wine? was it just the lack of good cooking equipment? the technique? it would be interesting to hear what you think the difference is between coq au vin your way versus the magnificent stew you had at Brasserie La Concorde, if the difference was not a result of the wine.
laurelie at 4:09PM on 08/11/09
I'm no wine connoisseur, but I can attest from experience to the power of terrible wine to ruin a dish. A really bad jug of cheap-ass industrial red can do horrible (sour, bitter, nasty) things to a stew that no amount of later doctoring can overcome. There's certainly no need to drink the wine you choose to cook with, but I think you should avoid cooking with a wine that's completely undrinkable -- heed that warning from your tastebuds!
That being said -- coq au vin! Dijon! 2 excellent things. (And coq au vin in Dijon -- I had some excellent versions there on a grad-student budget.)
benbenberi at 4:14PM on 08/11/09
@laurelie I hoped that I'd made it clear that my perseverance paid off but I guess not :) Hot plate cooking really is tough, though...takes eons for the thing to get hot enough and then even longer to cool it down again.
Michele Humes at 4:14PM on 08/11/09
@Michele - I have no doubt, although I've personally never had the pleasure of cooking on one. I figured it was the hot plate that was causing you the trouble but it wasn't clear when you finally perfected the recipe (in France or back at home with a real stove :)
laurelie at 4:19PM on 08/11/09
This looks totally amazing...can't wait to try!
kefinparis at 5:10PM on 08/11/09
one question--what do you mean by unsmoked bacon? will the package be labeled "unsmoked"?
carriebwc at 9:10AM on 08/12/09
@carriebwc That was a bad call on my part. In the UK, where I lived last, the two varieties are commonly available side by side. In fact, smoked bacon will work just fine.
Michele Humes at 9:27AM on 08/12/09
thanks. i'm not sure i've ever seen it here, but i'm going to look for it, because now i'm curious.
carriebwc at 9:40AM on 08/12/09
Sorry but Two-buck chuck is a wine I can not drink. I tried all varieties and its simply bad. There are plenty of merlots/cabs in Trader Joes in the 7-8 dollar range that would do much better and still be inexpensive.
Nasochkas at 3:07PM on 08/12/09
Always love your EFEB, Michele. And when it cools down (yes, I know, I know, it's August and supposed to be this hot) I'll definitely be having a cheap-ass fall dinner party. And probably with a $5 red, since no TJ's here in VT.
crankycakes at 8:39PM on 08/13/09
Michele, how would you alter this to make this into Two-Buck Bourguignon?
borrais at 9:29PM on 08/15/09
Made this last night, came out beautifully, the boyfriend and I absolutely loved it for the price. I added extra bacon...I mean you can't go wrong with extra bacon right? Thanks so much!
nicochi at 1:50PM on 08/16/09
@nasochkas Nobody is asking you to drink it. Not drinking it is kind of the point :)
@crankycakes Thanks for the kind words!
@borrais I would suggest that you use a favorite boeuf bourguignon recipe--say, this one, which has very similar ingredients--and simply substitute the Two-Buck Chuck.
@nicochi Thanks! I'm really glad it worked out.
Michele Humes at 5:22PM on 08/16/09
I made this just now. It looks beautiful. I used Ravenswood merlot, doubled the garlic and added some sliced baby bellas.
Thanks for the recipe!
Nasochkas at 7:39PM on 08/16/09
The problem is picking the Three-Buck Chuck Merlot! Their Shiraz and Cabernet are much more drinkable!
realhound at 10:43AM on 08/17/09
@realhound Shiraz and Cab are too full-bodied for a stew like this, which uses only wine for the braising liquid. Merlot is a lighter varietal and better suited to this dish.
Michele Humes at 10:46AM on 08/17/09
@Michele Humes: coq au vin is suited to almost any dry wine. you can even use Champagne. both shiraz and cabernet work great. the cooking process drastically changes the wine and the whole point of using dark meat and flour is to give the gravy more body.
dbisping at 3:32PM on 08/17/09
@dpisping I don't dispute that a wide range of dry wines, both red and white, can be used. But cab and shiraz are far more tannic than merlot, which could potentially lead to a really astringent sauce.
Michele Humes at 4:04PM on 08/17/09
@Michele Humes: tannins tenderize the meat. have you ever had a red wine reduction as a sauce? it's not tannic. depending on how you make it, it might be tangy, but the cooking takes care of the astringency.
dbisping at 5:09PM on 08/17/09
Would salt pork be the equivalent of unsmoked bacon? Recipe sounds wonderful.
katz2360 at 1:23PM on 08/21/09
I just made this, and I must say, I was less than impressed. I haven't yet had coq au vin that I like, so it may be that I am simply not partial to the dish. I am sure others have had successful experiences.
gelewis at 1:24AM on 08/27/09