Fancy Comfort Food

Lately my husband and I have been spending our weekends in.  It's been so nice to hang around the house with no real need to adhere to an agenda.  Time at home has also afforded me with ample opportunity to cook.  I've made a few big dishes lately, but one of my favorites has been Coq Au Vin...chicken in wine.

My mother used to make Coq Au Vin when I was a little kid.  I liked it so much that I had her make it for my birthday dinner one year.  It's a meal that I have great memories of, though I haven't had it in years.  After picking up a decent (but not exceptional) frozen Coq Au Vin from Trader Joe's, I decided to break down and make it myself.

I'm so glad I did! 

The final product turned out better than my memories.  The chicken was tender and flavorful, the sauce was thick and perfect, and the mushrooms and onions rounded things out nicely.  I served my Coq Au Vin over hot, buttered egg noodles with a salad and (of course!) crunchy French bread.

After reading both Julia Child's recipe and the recipe in The Joy of Cooking, I went with the later.  Both recipes were very similar, but The Joy of Cooking won out because I wanted more onions and carrots.  There are a million ways to make Coq Au Vin, and there are a number of wines you can use (I may try this with a Riesling in the springtime for a lighter dish), but The Joy of Cooking recipe was easy to follow and didn't require hours upon hours of cooking. Since everyone has (or should have!) a copy of The Joy of Cooking, I'm not going to type out the recipe.  Just flip open your book and get cooking!  Here's what mine looked like in the end:

If you make this (and you should!) let me know how it went!