From Chris Prosperi & Faith — What does dark chocolate (75-85%) do to turn ordinary Coq au Vin into something sensational? Because chefs need to share their secrets, Chris is happy to let you in on this trick…in our chicken and wine recipe, deep dark chocolate is what we call a “stealth” ingredient, a little something added toward the end of making a stew that secretly gives a dish oomph, in this case an earthy, nutty and rich flavor you can’t identify but makes you fall in love with your meal. (And what great mouth-feel!)
Faith here, saying that while I like to add either a little dark cocoa or a chunk of dark chocolate to my Coq au Vin, without measuring, we needed talented Chris to create and test this recipe to get the balance exactly right. After eating it together, contributors Alex, Mark, Anthony, Robyn and I can assure you it’s a fantastic dish, and was perfectly paired with red wine, which marries well with chocolate, thanks to Mark Raymond of Frederick Wildman & Sons.
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 3 pounds boneless-skinless chicken thighs
- 10 ounces button mushrooms quartered
- 4 strips bacon chopped
- 1 pound frozen pearl onions
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups red wine
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water to make a slurry
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Heat the oil on medium high heat in a heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven.
- Season the chicken thighs lightly with kosher salt and sear on both sides for 2 minutes each. Take the chicken out and set aside. Add the quartered mushrooms and bacon to the pot then cook for 2 minutes. Incorporate the pearl onions and cook until lightly caramelized. Stir in the cocoa powder. Now pour in the red wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes then add the chicken broth and the reserved chicken thighs. Bring back to a very low simmer and cook for 45 minutes while covered. Remove the lid and check to see if chicken is tender, if not then cook for an additional 10 minutes. While simmering pour the corn starch slurry into the pot. Mix to thicken.
- Finish with 2 tablespoons butter and garnish with chopped parsley.
ok the family likes the dish. but not the pearl onions they want fresh next time. I used girhardeli coco powder. should it be over wide egg noodles? Brown rice? a little garlic? we shall see.
Pete,
I like Ghiardelli. You can put this on anything you want. We put it on mashed parsnips, mashed potatoes, rice, egg noodles, and quinoa.
Best, Faith
Love, love your show!! Couldn’t wait to try this. Followed the recipe to the letter. Soooo disappointed! What went wrong??
Margie,
As you can see above from another listener, hers was terrific. Not sure what your process was, so very difficult to advise. I feel sad when a recipe doesn’t work…all that effort…Cheers, Faith
I’m making this for dinner tonight. It smells Amazing!
I tasted the onions, bacon and mushroom after the chocolate was added. O-M-G!’m
Isn’t it crazy good? So glad you tried this. Cheers, Faith
We had this last night for dinner, it was delicious. Even after all that time cooking, I thought the wine taste sort of lingered. I simply added a bit more cocoa powder and it balanced out nicely. Such a success the 4 year old was running around shouting “Coq au Vin!!”
Awesome! We’re so glad you liked it.
After I heard this described on the show a few weeks ago, I made this dish for Valentine’s Day, and my boyfriend and I loved it! It’s one of those dishes that was so good we just couldn’t say enough about. We kept commenting on how good it was throughout the meal, and I will admit to sneaking back into the kitchen to sneak a few extra bites, only to be caught by my boyfriend who came in for the same reason. I paired it with mashed parsnips, which went very well with the richness of the dish and offered a sweeter and fuller flavor than mashed potatoes. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I felt that the sauce was a little thin after simmering for about 45 minutes, so I added an extra tbs. each of corn starch and water as a slurry and let it simmer uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the sauce. Perfect!