Changing weather, changing tastes, changing dishes: coq au riesling

There is no question, ragazzi, that we are in autumn/summer.  That's what Annalena calls it, when she can come back from the market with cabbage, tomatoes, raspberries, grapes, peas, and cardoons.   She didn't bring the cardoons home, but she thought of it... hard.  Yes, this is harvest time.  The weather feels cooler, and those things we associate with autumn are upon us, but summer is holding on.  Contrary to Elinor Wylie  (go read "Wild Peaches"),  summer is NOT too beautiful to stay this year.  She's holding on.

All of this notwithstanding, we begin to want heartier food.  But we also want the comfortable that also shows us something new. And this, ragazzi, does the trick.

You've had coq au vin, haven't you?  Maybe some of you have even had it with the traditional rooster, and the thickened blood (Annalena has not).  Usually, however, we get a braise of chicken in red wine, with pearl onions, some bacon or salt pork of some kind, and maybe mushrooms.  When made well, it's a darn good dish.  It is not hard to make either, but people are afraid of it.  Please don't be.  We're going to walk through a variation on the dish, using riesling wine, which produces a chicken dish with a wonderful tan color, loaded with flavor.  You ready to try?  C'mon. You're gonna be SO glad you did this.

Let's get prepped first.  You need to chop up a carrot, an onion, a celery rib, and a couple of shallots.  Now, "medium" is how all of these are described, without any mention of what "medium" means.  You all know that infuriates Annalena.  The fact is, in this recipe, the amount is just about irrelevant.  If you have really small carrots, or really small celery ribs, use two.  And if you have a food processor, after you've scraped the carrot, and peeled the onion and shallots, cut the veggies in chunks, put them in the processor, and pulse about a half dozen times.  You're there.   Put that aside.

Now, in a big measuring cup, combine a cup and a half of chicken stock, and the same amount of a dry riesling.  Keep in mind that a dry riesling, is going to taste sweeter than other dry white wines.   Taste it, if you can, and if it's something you would be comfortable drinking with food, that's what you'd use.  If it's something you would have with dessert, move on.

You will need to slice up a pound of mushrooms at some point.  Sooner rather than later is Annalena's motto, but these are going to cook last, so don't sweat it.  Also, collect a half cup of creme fraiche and finally:  the coq.  In this case, you need four pounds of mixed legs and thighs, skin on.  Pat them dry  and salt them liberally, as far ahead as you can. You want these guys dry, and the salt to permeate.

Notice we have no bacon here, and no pearl onions.  No destroying your manicure peeling those things that nobody likes.

Put two tablespoons of vegetable oil in an onion safe casserole pot.  You know the type:  the ones Le Creuset makes.  When it's hot, add the chicken pieces, skin side down.  Don't touch it for at least four minutes.  Get a nice brown color.  Then flip it, and brown the other side.  You'll probably need to do this in two batches.  You'll be ok.  You won't need any more oil, because the thighs are going to render off their fat (would that Annalena's thighs would render off THEIR fat).    Put the chicken aside as it's done.

Annalena's recipe then calls for you to dump all this oil, and start with two tablespoons of clean vegetable oil.  Annalena begs to differ:  you have all this wonderful chicken flavor going on, so why dump it?  Leave a couple of tablespoons in, and then add the veggies.  Cook them at medium.  You should stir them every minute or so, until you have a bit of color on them.    Dump in your stock and wine, and add a few sprigs of thyme if you have them.  Increase the heat, and stir, to pick up any brown yummies on the bottom of the pot.  When this comes to a boil, let it cook for a minute.

Almost ready:  put the chicken in amongst the veggies and stock, cover the pot, and put it all in the oven at 300 for about an hour.  The chicken will cook to a very tender texture.

Remember those mushrooms?  Well, while the chicken cooks, get a frying pan and add another couple tablespoons of fat.  Butter is better here, but oil will work.  Raise the heat to HIGH and DO NOT TOUCH THE MUSHROOMS FOR FIVE MINUTES.  They will brown, and release their liquid.  They will surprise you with how much they shrink.  Then cook for another three minutes,  and move them to a bowl to cool. Add some salt and pepper.

Ok, now you have your chicken cooked, and your mushrooms done.  Here's where things can get a little testy, because you have to strain off fat.  No recipe ever tells you how to do this. The way Annalena did it, is she separated the chicken from the sauce, and poured everything into a heat proof measuring cup.  Then she let it sit for an hour.  The fat came to the top, and then she added ice cubes.  The fat congeals around the ice, and she can just pick up the cubes, and defat the sauce, about as much as she could.

We're going to reduce this now, and this is how you do it.  Take a look at how much liquid you have in the cup.  You want to reduce that to about 1.5 cups.  So, pour 1.5 cups of the liquid into your casserole. That's the liquid level you want.  Pour the rest in, raise the heat to medium high, and let it boil away, for about 4 minutes.  Turn off the heat, because the bubbles are deceiving.  Keep checking against your mental image of the 1.5 cups.  When you're there,  off the heat, stir in half a cup of creme fraiche.  You may get some globules, but be patient, and keep whisking.  Then, add in the chicken and the mushrooms, and... there it is.

Traditionally, this goes with noodles, or gnocchi, and you can do so.  Large cuts of pasta work as well.  You can brighten the flavor with lemon, and/or fresh herbs of your choice.  If you can, make the dish ahead of time and serve it the next day: it's even better.

You probably don't have a riesling in your house, so go and get a bottle.  And drink what's left with the chicken.  You'll add this one to your repertoire, without question.  Annalena is certain.

Next up: cruciferous vegetables return, and first, we're going to make a Greek dish that will remind some of you of the Irish dish colcannon, and then... we're going to make sauerkraut.