Coq au Vin

Original recipe by: Leslie Brenner

One of France’s most famous dishes, coq au vin is traditionally made with a big old rooster — that’s the coq. These days, and stateside, it’s usually made with chicken. Either way, the bird is cut up, marinated in red wine and aromatics overnight, browned then braised in the marinade and garnished with mushrooms, pearl onions and lardons.

Because this requires some time and effort, I like to approximate the size of a coq by adding some extra pieces — a couple of extra thighs or drumsticks. More often, I say the hell with tradition use entirely dark meat — thighs and drumsticks (about six nice-sized of each, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds total). If you can’t find slab bacon for the lardons, use a slab of pancetta. If you don’t find pearl onions, use small shallots.

What kind of wine? Just about any red will work fine; don’t spend more than $10 or $12 if you can help it. Pinot noir, Beaujolais, Dolcett…