Recipe Thursday – 30-Minute Coq au Vin

A Classic coq au vin can take up to two days to prepare, including marinating the chicken overnight. Food Network shared with us all the shortcuts to make this fabulous dish in 30 minutes. The recipe calls for making the red wine sauce with bacon, mushrooms and pearl onions – frozen variety to skip the tedious peeling, and rotisserie chicken parts to warm through.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch strips (about 4 1/2 ounces)
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered (Cremini mushrooms are just small portobellas, so diced portobellas would work)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions
2 sprigs fresh thyme or pinch dried thyme
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
Pinch sugar, optional
1 cooked rotisserie chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions
Put the bacon into an unheated large, high-sided skillet.
Cook over medium heat, stirring periodically, until the bacon is browned and crisp, about 8 minutes.
Transfer the bacon to a small bowl with a slotted spoon; set aside.
Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pan.
Increase the heat to medium-high.
Add the mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, flour and tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the tomato paste darkens a little, about 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth, wine, onions, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and more pepper.
Bring to a boil, then let simmer until thickened, about 4 minutes.
Turn the heat down to medium, and whisk in the butter a little at a time.
If the sauce tastes a little too acidic, add the sugar.
Nestle the chicken and cooked bacon into the sauce, and simmer gently until the chicken is heated through, 6 to 7 minutes.
(This could take up to 10 minutes if the chicken is cold, or as little as 3 minutes if it is warm.)
Spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces periodically to coat completely.
Toss the chicken in the sauce, remove the thyme stems, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

Total Time: 30 min
Prep: 5 min
Cook: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy
Recipe courtesy of Food Network Kitchen