Not just for fond – Coq au vin

In our latest Beaune post K claimed that we could make a better coq au vin and today we put our claim to the test (or the rooster where the mouth is)... However it has been a while so after shopping we consulted the internet (in this case, as quite often, the brothers Price) for the basics and found that while getting all the extras – mushrooms, pearl onions, bacon – we had run out of the base; carrots, celery etc. So back to the store T went.

This is how it went down (for 4 people):
1 big rooster from Bornholm
2 carrots
2 onions
2 stalks of celery
4 cloves of garlic
1 bottle + a big glass wine (preferably red burgundy but we were cheap and used left over chianti)
Some chicken stock from the freezer
Parsley, thyme, bay leaf, 4 cloves

Cut the rooster in 10 pieces (use the leftovers for stock ("fond")). Brown in olive oil and butter – s/p. Take up.
Fry the vegetables until soft but not brown.
Put the poultry back with the herbs, add wine and stock until covered. Put a lid on and let simmer for about an hour.

Meanwhile 15 pearl onions are cooked in butter, a bit of sugar, a little salt and water until the water had vaporized and the onions are light brown. Remove onions and add a generous glass of wine and reduce to half.

In a frying pan brown 200 gr bacon cut in thick pieces, until almost crisp. Remove and fry 250 gr mushrooms in the bacon grease.

By now the coq looks like this. Remove the meat, blend the sauce until smooth, put the poultry, onions, the reduced wine, bacon and mushrooms in, heat and serve...

... with bread! (and if necessary, rice or mashed potatoes but NOT tagliatelle), and a green salad.
The tagliatelle, in K's opinion, adds nothing to the dish. A big misunderstanding that apparently even the natives (read French) have adopted.

With this we had a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin 2008 from Manuel Olivier. Properly decanted and served at around 16 degrees this was extremely nice 8,3/10 and together with the dish it was even 8,8/10. The dish itself was superb. Even though we scarcely dare contradict the brothers we agreed to keep the vegetables and blend them in the sauce rather than thicken it with flour.. We ended up liking it very much indeed and with a rating of 9/10 we declare ourselves stand-out winners.