Chicken Coq Au Vin!

Last night was Chicken Coq Au Vin! Challenging in a few ways:


1st:  Cooking with wine
2nd: Making mushrooms (ew) - I've never really like mushrooms. So why did I choose to cook them? Who knows.
3rd: There were 3 recipes going on at the same time


I started off strong when I stumbled across this line in the opening paragraphs, "In a heavy large heavy bottomed casserole or Dutch oven."  What in the world does that mean!?! Luckily I had 2 versions of the recipe at my disposal, the experienced chef's version with fancy words, and the one I actually used. Once I figured out that "heavy large heavy bottomed casserole" means "pan" (stupid...) I was ready to go.


Next stumble - wrong type of bacon. Truthfully I didn't really even know that you could buy bacon in a way other than the strips. I still don't really know if you can. But I think you can, and I think that's what I was supposed to use. I need recipe cliffnotes.

Luckily, I barely noticed these mistakes because of my new, awesome apron! I've never had an apron. Suddenly I felt like a real cook (and also like a housewife... didn't like that feeling too much...). But thank you, Will! Excellent birthday present. And double points for not picking a pattern with mini cupcakes or watermelons.

Eventually I had the chicken cooking with the bacon, and poured in the wine to let it simmer for awhile. All was fine until I realized I had to start the second recipe and then I panicked a little and made Will put down the camera and help me manage. Then I took a breath and everything was fine. The chicken and bacon simmered in the wine for about half an hour; during that time I started with the 20 tiny white onions.

I'd never used the tiny onions before, but they were DELICIOUS! To cook them, I sauteed them in butter and was supposed to fill a cheesecloth with herbs. Unfortunately, I have never once heard of this so called "cheesecloth." And why it is not holding cheese? I used a coffee filter and a twist tie - it worked fine.

The best moment was mixing in the flour to the left over wine and stock that the chicken was cooking in. IT THICKENED! I was so excited. Then I actually tried it and it was actually delicious.

I would recommend serving the dish immediately and not leaving left overs. I reheated some for a midnight snack and it was a weird texture. Looked kind of like blueberry yogurt... mixed with chicken and mushrooms... I didn't take a picture of that for obvious reasons. It was still good the second time around, but not as appealing.

Overall, a success!! Though I think we're throwing out the leftovers... only because of the texture. It still smells delicious... but texture is the same reason I don't eat oysters, so I don't feel too bad.

The recipe is far too long to post on here, but feel free to check it out at the Food Network site (for the easier to understand version, go to What's Cooking America?)

Bon App-Alysse!

Next up...

Julia's Chicken Coq Au Vin.

Since working at a fondue restaurant, I've always been intrigued by cooking with wine. This next recipe will be my first time doing so! Looks like I'll actually have to spend more than $6 on a bottle...

Recipe

Any tips on cooking with wine??

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse

If you know me, you know I LOVE chocolate. Or anything sweet. Especially icing. Therefore, it was time to try this chocolate mousse recipe. I was inspired to make it from the chocolate creamy thing from Julie and Julia and it was delicious. I got the recipe from David Lebovitz's blog.

Chocolate Mousse
(serves 6-8, or alysse and will 5 times)

6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee

4 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat. I used the Obsidian roast from Caribou Coffee - their second darkest and my favorite blend. I'd be interested to make 1/4 cup with more grounds to make it an even stronger flavor.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. You can use an electric mixer - and maybe should. This took more like 5 minutes of Will and I passing off whisking duty. But! While the whisking was rough, it really felt like I earned it when I was finished.
 
3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla. This took only a couple minutes and was much easier/more rewarding since I could quicky see the result.

5. READ THIS ENTIRE STEP FIRST: Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose volume. 

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm. I transferred a majority into a bowl, with a solid chunk in another bowl that I planned to eat an hour out. It was delicious. 


This would be amazing served with strawberries or raspberries. I prefer straight out of the mixing bowl.

Bon App-Alysse!