Cuckoo For Coq Au Vin.

So. Last night, I had a cooking adventure!

My brother-in-law Ben's girlfriend Sarah is a delightful woman and I'm thrilled to know her.  Last night Sarah came over, and the plan was to cook a traditional dish that is native to a particular region of France for her French class. We looked at the list and decided to attempt Coq Au Vin, which is a native dish in Burgandy.

I've seen the Good Eats episode about Coq Au Vin but I didn't pay very close attention because I figured I probably wouldn't be making it anytime soon.  Thankfully, I had my trusty (but shamefully, as-yet-barely-used) copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking to walk me through.  Julia didn't let us down.

I know she would probably have found quite a few technical faults with our Coq Au Vin:

• I didn't have the proper cooking vessel (because I'm still technically a newlywed, and at the moment, rather poor).
• My knives aren't good enough to produce the ideal cuts, especially for the thyme. (Again, poor newlywed.)
• The bacon I used wasn't very lean at all, it was rather fatty, and I didn't cut the pieces small enough.  Also, they stuck together a lot because the bacon was sliced very thin and it was hard to pull apart.
• I didn't do a very good job cutting the chicken.  I probably used slightly less than she would have because of space limitations in my sub-par cooking vessel.
• Also, I didn't use a fryer, I used leg quarters because dark meat is more flavorful and cheaper. (This was actually a suggestion of Alton Brown's, so I don't feel bad about it at all.)
• We skipped the cognac because the liquor store was already closed by the time we got started.
• We used Pinot Noir, again, at Alton Brown's suggestion.
• I thought I had Bay Leaves at home, and (oops) I didn't.
• The Brown Braised Onions weren't technically braised, they were seared and baked.  (Still very good).
• My sauce was too thick.  I thinned it out with more wine and stock, which means the taste of the wine was a bit stronger than it would have been if I had used the proper flour.  I didn't realize that I was out of all purpose flour until I got to this step (my husband was making mischief in the kitchen a few nights ago and used up all the flour to make cookie dough, without me knowing about it)I had use self rising flour, which meant that the sauce thickened way more.  At first I thought I didn't use the correct proportion of wine/sauce reduction to beurre manie (which is basically an uncooked roux), but then I remembered the flour problem and it made sense.  The end product was still probably a bit too thick but I think it will work.

I know that sounds like a lot of problems, but really, very few of them turned out to be anything formidable.

I will say this, though:  If this Coq Au Vin was wrong, I don't want to be right.

It was so good.  So.  Good.

So.

Good.

I should have taken photos of it and posted them.  I didn't think of it until this very moment.  I'm definitely not cut out to be a food blogger.  I'll probably make it again soon and try to correct a few of the technical problems, for my own satisfaction.  Also, it was so dang good, and I only had a taste because I wanted for Sarah to be able to have it all to take to class and if there were leftovers, to enjoy herself.  And also, I didn't want to gain 50 pounds in one night.  I think I'll plan ahead and just eat that for dinner soon.

Also a plus: I had an amazing time with Sarah through it all.  She's so wonderful, and I love getting to know her better each time we see each other.

If you're interested, here are the recipes:

Julia Child's Coq Au Vin
Alton Brown's Coq Au Vin

Also, if you're interested, here is the link to the transcript for Alton Brown's Coq Au Vin episode:
Cuckoo For Coq Au Vin