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Coq Au Vin II

A slow‑cooked chicken stew with wine, vegetables, and bacon, served with optional egg noodles.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 19 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Coq Au Vin II

Oven325°F
Time2–2½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chicken

  1. Sprinkle both sides of chicken pieces very liberally with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

  2. Dip chicken pieces into eggs.

  3. Set aside.

  4. Place some flour into a gallon-size zip-top bag.

  5. Add chicken pieces and toss to coat.

Brown the meat and onions

  1. Place water in the bottom of a cast-iron skillet along with the salt pork, and heat over medium heat.

  2. Cook salt pork for 8–10 minutes.

  3. Remove salt pork but leave fat in the skillet.

  4. Add pearl onions to the same pan and cook until deeply browned.

  5. Remove pearl onions and add chicken pieces, working in batches if needed, into the same pan and brown on both sides.

  6. Transfer browned chicken and onions to a 7–8 quart enameled Dutch oven.

  7. Keep onions in an airtight container with salt pork in the refrigerator.

  8. Pour off remaining fat.

  9. Deglaze with 1 cup of wine.

  10. Pour wine and remaining ingredients into Dutch oven and refrigerate overnight.

Braise and serve

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

  2. Place chicken in oven and cook for 2–2½ hours, or until chicken is tender.

  3. Maintain a very gentle simmer and stir occasionally.

  4. Once chicken is done, remove it to a heatproof container, cover, and place it in the oven to keep warm.

  5. Strain sauce in a colander and remove carrots, onion, celery, thyme, rosemary, garlic, and bay leaf. Discard.

  6. Return sauce to pot, place over medium heat, and reduce by half.

  7. Once sauce has reduced, add salt pork and onion.

  8. Cook until heated through.

  9. Remove from heat, add chicken, and serve warm over hot cooked egg noodles, if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1125Calories
84 gProtein
28 gFat
123 gCarbs

Counts 16 of 17 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 16 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Chicken100g cooked165
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Rosemary1 tsp dried (1.2g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Provides the main meat; braising over long, gentle heat makes it tender.
Red wine
Forms the braising liquid, adding acidity and deep flavor to the sauce.
Flour
Coats the chicken so it browns well and helps thicken the sauce.
Eggs
Binds the flour coating to the chicken pieces.
Salt pork
Renders fat for browning and adds savory, smoky richness.
Pearl onions
Caramelize during browning, adding sweetness to the finished dish.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated savory depth and color to the sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the chicken and onions. Deep browning creates Maillard flavor compounds that give the sauce its richness. Pale or crowded pieces steam instead, leaving the braise flat-tasting.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, red wine, flour, egg, celery, carrot):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, red wine, flour, egg, celery, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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