• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • Copyright Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Surprise Me
  • Recipes
    • By Categories
    • Cake Pan Conversions Calculator
    • Cup – Gram Conversion
    • F.A.Q.
  • Travelogues
    • Travel Map
    • Asia
      • 2014 Ho Chi Minh & Mui Ne, Vietnam (5 days)
      • 2014 East Java, Indonesia (5 days)
      • 2013 Cambodia (7 days)
      • 2012 Taiwan (22 days)
    • Europe
      • 2016 Balkans (25 days)
      • 2016 Switzerland (9 days)
      • 2015 Iceland (22 days)
      • 2015 Denmark (8 days)
      • 2015 Naples and Amalfi Coast, Italy (7 days)
      • 2011 Europe (42 days, 13 countries)
  • Contact

Foodie Baker

Home » Recipes » Savoury » Main Courses » Meat: Poultry » Coq Au Vin (Delia Smith)

March 23, 2013 French

Coq Au Vin (Delia Smith)

DSC_6484

Coq Au Vin is a traditional French dish originating from the Burgundy region. Coq Au Vin, loosely translated, it means Cock (Chicken) With Wine. The traditional dish consists of chicken marinated in red wine and herbs, seared in lardon fat, and finally braised in wine with mushrooms and sometimes garlic.

Some says the origin of this dish came from Julius Caesar’s cook, when he used an old turkey gifted by the Gauls to whip up this amazing dish to serve back to the Gauls. There was another version that in the past, as French people often reared hens and roosters in their household, when the roosters grew old and could not perform their duties anymore, the roosters would be slaughtered and not wanting to waste their tough meat, the French came up with an ingenious idea to braise the rooster meat in wine to soften the meat.

DSC_6481


Delia’s recipe deviated from the traditional recipe quite a bit as there was no marination involved, and lardon has been substituted with bacon. However, without the marination, making this dish is a lot faster as it can be completed in about 1 1/2 hours (I spent some time taking the step-by-step photos so I took about 2 hours).

The overall dish is a very hearty and comforting dish, perfect for cold nights, so it’s a little odd when X and I were eating it for lunch, not to mention we were drinking the leftover red wine in a hot summer-ish afternoon… Nevertheless, the dish is very interesting – it has an intense red wine taste that I’m not sure everyone will be fond of. I’m okay with the taste but X felt that there was a slight bitter after-taste, not sure if it’s how the dish is supposed to taste like… any ideas? Otherwise I’ve got to order this in a restaurant and try it out.

DSC_6488

For those who are interested in trying this French classic, here’s how!

DSC_6452 DSC_6458
1) Pan-fry a couple slices of bacon to render its fat. 2) Drain the crispy bacon slices on paper towels.
DSC_6454 DSC_6456
3) Sear the chicken on all sides until golden-brown in colour. 4) Remove the chicken onto a plate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
DSC_6453 DSC_6457
5) Slice some onion and crush some garlic. 6) Stir-fry the onion and garlic until fragrant.
DSC_6460 DSC_6462
7) Add in red wine. 8) Add in chicken, bay leaves and bacon and simmer until the chicken is cooked through.
DSC_6475 DSC_6477
9) Slice some button mushrooms while the chicken is simmering. 10) Add in the mushrooms and simmer until the mushrooms have softened and are cooked.

DSC_6487

Serve garnished with parsley!

Cook Like a Star

I’m submitting this to Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake. Do click on the froggie below to see all other recipe attempts by other foodies!



Bizzy Bakes

I’m also submitting this to Bizzy Bakes, hosted by Chaya! Do click here to see the wide variety of recipes that bloggers from all over the world have submitted!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Coq Au Vin

Serves 4
By Jasline N.
Servings: 0

INGREDIENTS
 

  • 4 strips of streaky bacon
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 huge chicken drumsticks
  • 1 onion, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 375 ml red wine, 1 1/2 cups
  • 1 large bay leaf, I used 2 small ones
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 250 grams mushrooms, brushed/washed and halved/quartered
  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon plain flour
  • Freshly snipped parsley, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

  • In a large pot over medium heat, pan-fry the bacon until their fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and crumble the bacon when they are cool enough to handle. Do not discard the bacon fat.
  • Add the butter and olive oil into the pot with the bacon fat. When the butter has melted and the oil is hot, sear the chicken drumsticks over medium-high heat until all sides are golden-brown in colour, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do this in batches if the pot is too small, adding more oil if necessary. Remove the chicken onto a plate and set aside.
  • Reduce the heat to low. Add in the onion slices and crushed garlic and let them sweat till the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the red wine, bay leaf, thyme, bacon bits and chicken drumsticks. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, turning the chicken drumsticks several times during cooking.
  • Add the mushrooms into the pot, cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Check that the chicken drumsticks are cooked through. Remove the chicken drumsticks and place them on serving plates and keep warm. Discard the bay leaf and thyme. Bring the sauce to a fast boil and reduce it by 1/3.
  • Mash the butter and plain flour together and add it into the sauce, stirring constantly until the sauce has thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

NOTES

- Adapted from Delia's Smith Coq Au Vin
Tried this recipe?Mention @foodiebaker or tag #foodiebaker!

P.S. I served mine with some delicious Twice-Baked Potatoes, here’s a sneak peek!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Stay tuned for the recipe! Happy cooking!

Share the love!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: French Tags: bacon, bay leaf, butter, chicken drumstick, cook like a star, garlic, mushroom, onion, plain flour, thyme, wine

Previous Post: « Cijin Island, British Consulate and Yide Night Market in Kaohsiung,Taiwan
Next Post: Twice-Baked Potatoes »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jasline says

    March 25, 2013 at 8:05 am

    Wish I can bring some to you! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Jasline says

    March 25, 2013 at 8:05 am

    Hi Johnny, thanks for the tip! I don’t drink wine much so I don’t know all these. Will definitely try it again once I find a better wine!

    Reply
  3. Zoe says

    March 25, 2013 at 7:24 am

    Hi Jasline,

    I agree with Johnny and Karen. It is the wine that you used can give you some bitter aftertaste. What red wine did you used? Is it a dry one? I like to use cabernet sauvignon because I like drinking this and great with chicken dishes too… It’s all personal preference.

    Zoe

    Reply
  4. Karen says

    March 25, 2013 at 6:11 am

    Hi Jasline, Your photos are absolutely wonderful…the coq au vin looks delicious. I tend to agree with Johnny…I think it was probably the wine, not the way you prepared it.

    Reply
  5. Jasline says

    March 24, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    Hi Baby Sumo, nope I didn’t, I just used chicken drumsticks that I bought from the supermarket!

    Reply
  6. kitchen flavours says

    March 24, 2013 at 7:18 am

    Hi Jasline, Your coq au vin is looking delish! Have seen lots of recipes for this and am always wondering how it tastes like, obviously delicious, from the looks of yours! And your potatoes looks really good!

    Reply
  7. Baby Sumo says

    March 23, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    Hi Jasline, did u use cock to make this dish? I was going to make this when I first saw the recipe, but was a bit wary of using cock since I heard the meat is a bit “tougher” and was worried my kids wont like it. But your chicken looks so good, I think I’ll try making this next month.

    Reply
  8. ChgoJohn says

    March 23, 2013 at 11:47 pm

    Such a great dish, Jasline, and a personal favorite. It’s really a simple recipe but the flavors are so good, especially when the thighs & drumsticks are used, just as you did here. You shared a winning recipe today. Thank you.

    Reply
  9. Mich Piece of Cake says

    March 23, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    Hi Jasline, your chicken had me drooling from here… so succulent and tender.

    Reply
  10. 81/365: National Coq Au Vin Day* | Eat My Words says

    March 23, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    […] Coq Au Vin (Delia Smith) (foodismylife.wordpress.com) […]

    Reply
  11. Bam's Kitchen (@bamskitchen) says

    March 23, 2013 at 8:20 am

    Any recipe that starts with pan fried bacon would be a winner for my teenage boys as they think bacon is one of the major food groups. Beautiful photos and would love a plate of this for dinner. I have moved to my own self hosted site. I hope you will come for a visit. I kept my old worpress site out there as backup after hearing about your dilemma. Http:// bamskitchen.com/ . Have a super weekend.BAM

    Reply
  12. Suzanne says

    March 23, 2013 at 8:06 am

    I haven’t made coq au vin in a very long time and you reminded me how much I love it and it needs to go back on rotation, I love this recipe, it’s so simple and your step by step instructions are excellent, Thank you for the inspiration!

    Reply
  13. yummychunklet says

    March 23, 2013 at 7:24 am

    Second post I’ve seen for coq au vin! I want some NOW! Yum!

    Reply
  14. johnnysenough hepburn says

    March 23, 2013 at 5:40 am

    It’s years since I’ve made coq au vin, and the only time that I did make it I used white wine instead. I don’t remember having to marinade the chicken, either. With red wine you would have to be careful with the amount of tannin the wine has as that could be causing the bitter aftertaste. Personally I like red wine but not those with a high tannin content – can’t drink the stuff!

    Reply

What are you thinking?Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

logo
Food Advertisements by

Popular on Foodie Baker

Stove-Top BBQ Pulled Pork [Bonus Recipe: KFC Coleslaw]
Mom's Chinese Potato and Minced Pork Stew
Red Date Longan Tea with Goji Berries
15-Minutes Mushroom Sauce (for Steaks and Mashed Potatoes)
Stove-Top BBQ Pork Ribs
3-Minute Easy Chocolate Sauce
Julia Child's Basic Crêpes Recipe (For Both Savoury and Sweet)
Egg White Chocolate Brownies
Roasted Butterflied Prawns in Garlic-Parsley Butter (Delia Smith)
Asian-Style Egg Noodles Stir Fry (with Prawns and Chicken)

Footer

About Foodie Baker

Hi there! I am Foodie Baker - the baker, the cook, the author, the part-time photographer (my husband X takes most of the travel photos), and pretty much the slave behind Foodie Baker. Welcome and I hope you managed to find something you like. :)

stay connected

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Menu

  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Cake Pan Conversions Calculator
  • Travelogues

Subscribe via email

Copyright © 2025 Foodie Baker on the Cookd Pro Theme

Scroll Up
%d