Cheap Night Fancy: Coq au Vin

When planning the Forkably Hip menu, I knew I wanted to serve food which would be more upscale and fitting with the jet set we wanted to attract. Originally, I aimed to price the plates around $50.00 serving fancy food like Salmon Roulade for the entree, however after Amber and I started talking over the details, we both agreed a less expensive plate price with more frugal food options would be more in fitting with our prospective blog mission statements. Charging less money, I would have to switch gears to save money on my expenses. When thinking what entree I could make easily on a tight budget, Coq au Vin instantly came to mind.



Literally meaning cock, or rooster (get your mind out of the gutter) in wine, this dish is made by braising chicken in red wine. It goes best with dark meat, which happy luck would have are the more budget cuts. My family has been making this dish for years, and although not difficult or expensive to make, presents a certain amount of high falutin feelings when served and eaten. As Amber and I both like to fake fancy on the cheap, I knew I'd found my meal ticket!


Floured chicken ready for browning in preparation for braising.

Although I grew up on the joy of cooking Coq au Vin recipe, I decided to work from the Alton Brown recipe because he requires most of the work to be done the day before, allowing me to make the most of my time.

The main difference between the Joy of cooking recipe and the Alton Brown method is Joy has you cook everything together, where Alton Brown separates the onions, mushroom and bacon out and has you marinate the chicken in the wine and chicken stock sauce overnight.


On left, browned chicken with veggies and herbs, on right, adding the wine/stock/tomato paste mixture to the chicken and veggies.

He also suggests you add veggies such as onions, celery, carrots, thyme and bay leaf to the chicken and wine sauce. The choice of or amount of veggies you add here isn't of paramount importance as they are basically being used to help flavor the liquid in the pot much like a stock or soup base. The flavors will enhance the braising liquid which you later drain the veggies out of to make into your coq au vin gravy. I had the ends of a leek as well as the stems of a fennel bulb I was using for my starter, so I threw those in to accompany the suggested vegetables. I always feel a few pepper corns can't hurt either.

The chicken in the wine/stock with veggies is left to marinate overnight and then roasted in the oven the next day for 2-3 hours until cooked.


Cooked Coq au Vin comes out of the oven, ready to be strained.

At this point, the chicken is removed from the pot and veggies need to be strained out of the braising liquid. This liquid is boiled on the stove top to reduce the sauce until thickened to a gravy. In addition to reducing, I also added 1 part flour to 1 part butter to help it thicken faster. When the gravy is thick enough, you add the chicken as well as the onions, mushrooms and bacon. Dinner is done.

If you want to make it the same day, the Joy of cooking recipe is for you, which takes about an hour or two of cooking time although you could make the Alton Brown recipe the same day by eliminating the overnight marination.


Coq au Vin served in a pastry bowl with a side of roasted root vegetables.

Whichever recipe you choose, this dish yields a lot of bang for your buck, it doesn't require that much skill, kitchen time or money, yet produces a luxurious dinner which will be sure to produce oohs and oohlalas from your dinner guests.

Fashionable Food

Ira, Sarah and Pat enjoying the Pissaladiere starter.

Forkably Hip, the collaborative supper club event we hosted with the fabulous Amber, of Painfully Hip fame, was a superb success and perfectly timed. I didn't even know when we picked this date, it would land during Chicago's Fashion Week.


Pat, Brad, Rhea and table flowers illuminated by moody candle light.

All our guests looked fierce and fashion forward in frugal vintage garb as they mingled amongst the flowers and candles which decorated tables and dined on our French Provincial inspired 3 course prefix menu.


Rhea, Brad, Eric, Pat and Clair mingle before dinner.

The event began with a cocktail hour, where our diverse group of guests got to meet and greet while sharing bargain wines and enjoying the eye candy.


Sunday night didn't keep us away from the bottle.

After our lips were effectively dyed by our drinks, the meal could start.


I prep the Pissaladiere in the apron my sister made for me.

My friend Katherine, acting as my sous chef began serving the starter course of Pissaladiere, a rustic tart served on a thyme Parmesan crust with a spicy mustard sauce topped with rosemary roasted potato medallions, caramelized onions and capers.



This was served on a bed of fresh greens with a rose hip vinaigrette. The spicy saltiness of the Pissaladiere were complimented by the light sweet flavors of the rose hip vinaigrette.


Caroline and Emma, 2nd prize winner for our fashion contest, await the Entree course.

After getting all the starter dishes out, Katherine and I grabbed a quick bite, and then we scrambled back into the kitchen to serve the entree of of Coq au Vin, which was traditionally made with rooster and literally translates into rooster in wine.



Prepared by slow braising chicken thighs and drumsticks in a red wine sauce, we served our Coq au Vin in a garlic Parmesan pastry bowl. The red wine cooking sauce was thickened into a gravy and ladled over the chicken pieces and served in the pastry bowl with pearl onions and button mushrooms sauteed in smoked bacon. A red wine Portobello stew was offered as a vegetarian option.



Both dishes were served with a side of roasted root vegetables: Organic beets, Yukon gold potatoes and sweet potatoes roasted with rosemary and thyme. The beets, which came straight from my parents garden. Although I have never been the biggest fan of beets, when roasted they caramelize beautifully and the sugars heighten.



The sweet and savory potatoes help to tone down the any characteristic beet flavor. Whether you like beets or not, no one can deny their flamboyant beauty when chopped.



After allowing everyone's belly's to digest (and Katherine and I time to eat), we brought out the dessert course. I served an heirloom family recipe renamed to fit our french provincial menu (is that wrong??).


Plum dumpling servings being prepped. Photo taken by Caroline Casey.

Plum Quinelle (also known as Plum Knödel) is a potato flour dumpling wrapped around whole Italian plums. A sumptuous browned butter sauce with amaretto was drizzled over the dumplings and sprinkled with sugar to compliment any sourness in the plums.


Water jugs with citrus helped keep us all hydrated. It was a Sunday night after all.

All in all I was so happy with the group assembled. The tables were all active in conversation even though many of the people were new to each other.


Shayna, Dana, Amber, Jessica and Claire mingle during dinner. Photo taken by Caroline Casey.
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All dressed up, we all felt like the beautiful people and the best part was we didn't have to sell our souls and our pocket books to get there.


Even I got dressed up!

For more pictures of all our fashionable friends, check out Amber's coverage of our stylish evening. Click here for my full Forkably Hip flickr set.


The beautiful hosts.

Amber and I want to thank all our guests for making such a good show. Thanks to Katherine and Ira for helping us with all the logistics, and thanks to you for reading about it.