Coq Au Vin or Cocovan?

Coq Au Vin or Cocovan? 

You Decide !

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes which you just stir everything up in a pot and bake it off the the meat is so tender it falls off the bones when you eat them. A good dish to serve up with some pasta, or some cous cous or maybe even some fragrant jasmine rice for a change. I haven't made this dish for a while, so i don't have the original picture of my cooking, and the above picture is just a replica on how the dish will look like when you try it. Enjoy.

Recipe:

1 whole                               chicken (you can use drumsticks)

50 gm                                 plain flour

2 cups                                 dry red wine

2 strips                               streaky bacon

2 whole                               shallots

1 clove                                garlic

1 tbsp                                 fresh thyme

250 gm                               fresh button mushroom 

1/2                                     carrot (diced)

1/2 cup                               brandy

500 ml                                chicken stock

2 tbsp                                 tomato paste

                                          fresh parsley to garnish

Method:

1. Rinse the chicken with cold water to remove dirt and excess fat. Season with salt and pepper over chicken. 
2. Coat the chicken lightly in plain flour and pan fry them in oil until they are golden color. This is to seal all the juices in the chicken when its cooking and also helps to thicken the sauce. Remove the chicken from the pan once its done. 
3. In a oven proof pot, saute shallots, garlic, bacon, mushroom, carrot and thyme until fragrant. Shouldn't burn the garlic and shallots as it will give the sauce a bitter after taste. 
4. Once its nicely colored, stir in the tomato paste and continue cooking for at least 2 minutes. 
5. In the mean time, place a hot pan over high heat with no oil or liquid. (make sure its dry) . Pour in the brandy to flambe it, (burn off the alcohol) and do be careful of the flame that will come bursting up. 
6. Once the fire is completely gone, pour the brandy into the pot. Now place your chicken onto the cooking mixture together with your chicken stock and red wine. 
7. Cover it with the lid and place it in an oven at 180'c for at least 1 1/2 hours. Slow cooking process will help infuse the flavor into the chicken and help reduce the sauce. 
8. Once its done, remove the chicken from the pot and place it on the plate. Over high heat, reduce the sauce and stir in some butter to make the sauce looks shiny. Sprinkle some salt and pepper for taste. Pour it over the chicken and serve it with either rice or pasta.