Coq Au Van

                Coq  Au Van with Arap Pilavi and White chocolate Mousse
This one takes a while to prepare, but well worth it.
There are few sauces that compare, with the French mushroom wine sauces.
This sounds complicated but it's very easy, just a lot of steps.
I've added lots of photos, hope it helps.

Ingredients:
One large whole chicken-cut up (reserve the back for the stock)
1quart of water
2 cups dry red wine (like Merlot or Shiraz)
1onion, thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1tbl. garlic-minced
4 strips bacon, cut into lardons    What-Are-Lardons-Video
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup  flour for dredging
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
8 oz white mushrooms- sliced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Preparation:

The day before:
Combine the chicken, wine, onion, bay leaves, thyme and garlic cloves in a bowl or baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the chicken occasionally.


Bring the chicken back, water, and bacon to a boil in a stock-pan.
Boil until it has reduced to 2 cups.
Discard the chicken back. Cool and refrigerate.

The next day:
Skim any fat the has accumulated on the stock. Remove bacon from stock  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350*  Pour the chicken mixture into a colander that is set over a large bowl.
Reserve the marinade liquid in the bowl and the onion, herbs and garlic in the colander.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, and dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Fry chicken until golden.
It doesn't have to be cooked through, just browned.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off the excess oil from the pan.

Add the reserved onion and sauté until they begin to brown and become tender.
Add the reserved bacon pieces, mushrooms and the reserved herbs
Sauté until the mushrooms are golden brown.
Stir in the tomato paste.
Add the strained marinade liquid and the reserved chicken stock.

Bring the liquids to a simmer over high heat and reduce to half.
Add the chicken and the liquid to a baking pan.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Transfer the chicken from the cooking liquid to a platter. Cover the chicken to keep it warm.
Simmer the cooking liquid over medium-high heat until it is reduces and forms a slightly thickened sauce, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Add the chopped parsley to the sauce.
Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.
This is very rich. Simple side dishes are the best accompaniment.

 Marinate the chicken in the wine, onion, garlic and herbs, overnight or at least several hours.

Make a stock from the water, reserved chicken back and bacon.Reduce to about 2 cups broth. Cool, discard chicken and refrigerate until needed.

Dredge the chicken in the flour, and fry until browned on all sides. remove from skillet and set aside.

Drain the oil from the skillet and add the reserved onion and herbs, reserved bacon, also the mushrooms.
It's important to fry until the mushrooms have browned. Browned mushrooms have a unique flavor. Add the reserved marinade and chicken stock. Simmer until it has reduced to half.

Place the chicken in a baking dish, and pour the liquid over. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Almost There!

Move the chicken to a covered dish. Pour the sauce back into the skillet and reduce to a thick sauce.
As you can see in the photo, It becomes a bit oily, pour off the oil before serving. Open a bottle of wine and pat yourself on the back. You've earned it!