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#Cookclub recipe no. 9: Quick Coq au Vin

 
Published Feb. 25, 2014

Long time no #CookClub!

The holidays did a number on my time, as I am sure they did yours. Plus we sold our house of 20 years and I am now cooking temporarily in a postage-stamp-size kitchen with 1970s cabinetry, among other things I'd change if I could. But the stove and oven work, and there's a mighty fine view of Tampa Bay, so I am not complaining. Well, not too much.

I am rededicating myself to #CookClub starting today with a recipe for Quick Coq au Vin. A new year, but a very old recipe. We'll start back on our live Twitter chats on Jan. 30 just in time to talk about Super Bowl party ideas. (That big game is Feb. 2.)

Coq au Vin (pronounced COKE-oh-vahn) is a French dish of chicken braised in wine with bacon and mushrooms. In its classic form, cut-up chicken is browned in the fat of rendered bacon (or pancetta) and then stewed with wine and stock, plus onions, carrots and spices. It's a hearty dish with deep earthy flavors, including pearl onions.

It's traditionally made with chicken with skin and that can make it greasy. Often, you'll need to skim off some of that grease, if you didn't brown the meat well and discard that rendered fat.

This quick recipe from Cooking Light magazine uses skinless chicken thighs which are long on flavor and don't have the fat that comes with the skin. You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts but it won't have the same deep flavor as the dark meat (or using skin-on meat). One serving is 230 calories and 8 grams of fat.

The thighs are browned after being lightly coated in seasoned flour.

Despite tasting like you might have been working in the kitchen for hours, this dish only takes about 30 minutes to make. I serve mine with mashed potatoes, but buttered new potatoes or even egg noodles would be fine accompaniments.

I can't wait to see what you think of the recipe, and, of course, how you'll tinker.

Join us online!

To participate online, the key is to remember #CookClub because that's how you'll want to tag everything. You'll have two weekends to make the recipe and post a photo on Instagram with your comments. The next recipe will be announced at tampabay.com on Feb. 3.

Photos and comments of the Quick Coq au Vin are due by 6 p.m. Feb. 2. Some of the photos and comments will be printed in the Tampa Bay Times food section on Feb. 5.

As part of the #CookClub conversation, join us from 7 to 8 p.m. on most Thursdays for a live #CookClub chat on Twitter. The next chat is Jan. 30 and we'll be talking about Super Bowl party food.

Have questions? Direct them to @RoadEats on Twitter and tag them #CookClub or email jkeeler@tampabay.com.