Talk about flavorful? You need to make this – these two recipes.
It’s been a couple of months since I made this – I’ve had lots of recipes to write up for the blog – I think this was over Easter weekend. My friend Linda and I shared cooking responsibilities. I made this one of the evenings. Two fabulous recipes (below). You definitely need to make them both – not necessarily together, but the chicken was great with the cheesy cauliflower, and the zinfandel gravy was tasty to have with the cauliflower.
The chicken recipe was in Bon Appetit in November of 2001. A long time ago, and I just got around to making it. Nothing about it is difficult. You do need bacon (adds so much wonderful flavor), shallots and good mushrooms. The recipe called for boiling onions – I tried to find them (frozen) at Trader Joe’s, but they told me they only carry them around the holidays. So I used regular yellow onions instead, cut into some wedges and some chopped. I took along a good bottle of Zinfandel, and Linda and I enjoyed drinking it – the part I didn’t use in the chicken. The recipe was developed by Chef Jeff Mall, from a restaurant in Healdsburg, CA, called Zin. No longer in business, so the internet says. I’m glad I have this recipe – it’s a good one to serve to guests, and you could make a large or small quantity. I prefer cooking chicken thighs over breasts (too easy to overcook breasts) and I think thighs have more flavor.
The thighs are dunked in flour, salted and peppered, then browned in the bacon grease. Don’t over-brown them as you’ll cook them through right there in the pan. Since I always use thick cut, meaty bacon, there wasn’t a lot of grease anyway. The recipe suggests adding a dash of olive oil to the pan also, which I did. Once browned, the thighs are removed while you make the sauce (shallots, garlic, onions, mushrooms and Herbes de Provence, if you have it – if not, use thyme). The original recipe called for marjoram – I didn’t have it but did have the Provence herb mixture on hand. Chicken stock is added plus the Zinfandel, and you scrape up all that browned goodness from the bottom of the pan. The original dish was baked, but I cooked it on the stovetop. Boneless, skinless thighs don’t take that long to cook! The chicken and veggies are removed, then you make a butter roux and thicken the sauce. Add the chicken and veggies back in to re-warm. Just warm everything through.
Meanwhile, you will have made the cauliflower. I started with a recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen – she calls it “the best pureed cauliflower.” I agree! Once the cauliflower has steam-cooked for about 20 minutes, you drain it well. In fact, you drain it for about 5 minutes so you know there isn’t much water left (this way the mashed version won’t be too thin/watery). The cauliflower goes into the food processor along with some grated Parmesan (the good stuff, not the canned variety), salt, pepper, a little bit of cream, and Kalyn used 1 1/2 T of soft goat cheese. What I had on hand was Boursin garlic herb cheese – that’s what I used – about 1/4 cup (more than in the original recipe). Taste it for seasonings. You might need to reheat the mashed cauliflower just before serving – over low heat as it could burn easily. My friend Linda was quite enamored with the cauliflower – she’d never had any that was so flavorful. Yup! Really good. When you serve it, lap some of the sauce on the cauliflower – not a lot.
What’s GOOD: both of these recipes are delicious. Worthy of a company meal. It does require several steps to making it, but neither is overwhelming. Count on about 1 1/2 hours total including baking time for the chicken. The chicken is extra-tasty. Also a bit rich from the bacon and the buttery sauce. Love-loved the sauce! If you have leftover sauce be sure to use it in soup (I made a chicken and vegetable soup the following week). The cauliflower recipe is a real keeper. Well, both of these are. Loved the cauliflower with the cheesy components in it. Not overwhelmingly cheesy – just GOOD cheesy. Altogether fabulous two recipes.
What’s NOT: only that the chicken does take some time, start to finish. Cauliflower is easy, though.
Coq au Zin printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)
Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)
* Exported from MasterCook *
Coq au Zin
Recipe By: Adapted from Bon Appetit, Nov 2001 (from Zin Restaurant & Wine Bar, Healdsburg), Chef Jeff Mall
Servings: 8
2/3 cup all purpose flour — for coating the chicken
Salt and pepper, sprinkled on the chicken thighs
6 slices thick-sliced bacon — chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 boneless skinless chicken thighs — excess fat trimmed
1 cup chopped shallots
3 garlic cloves — minced
1 pound onions — (boiling onions are called for, but you may use yellow onions, some in wedges and some coarsely chopped)
12 ounces crimini mushrooms — quartered, or white mushrooms, halved or quartered
2 tablespoons herbes de provence — dried
1 bottle Zinfandel — (750 ml)
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
ROUX:
2 tablespoons all purpose flour — at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter — (1/4 stick) room temperature
GARNISH:
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1. Place flour in shallow dish.
2. Cook chopped bacon in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until crisp, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Add olive oil to bacon drippings in pot. Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, coat chicken thighs with flour and add to pot; sear until light, golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Boneless, skinless thighs will not brown as much – and if you did, it might dry out the chicken too much. Remove chicken and set aside.
3. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons fat from pot. Add shallots and garlic to pot and sauté 1 minute only. Add onions, crimini mushrooms, and herbes and sauté until onions begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add red Zinfandel and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Add chicken stock and bacon; simmer for 5 minutes. Add chicken back in and bring liquid to a simmer. Cover and reduce heat so the juices just barely simmer and cook slowly for about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and vegetables and set aside.
4. Mix flour and butter with a fork in small bowl to blend. Bring wine mixture to boil. Whisk in flour mixture and boil until sauce thickens and is reduced to 2 3/4 cups, about 8 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper (it may not be needed since you reduced the sauce). Add chicken and vegetables back into the pot and heat through. Serve immediately over a bed of mashed potatoes or cheesy mashed cauliflower.
Per Serving: 518 Calories; 26g Fat (45.8% calories from fat); 48g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 227mg Cholesterol; 503mg Sodium; 5g Total Sugars; trace Vitamin D; 32mg Calcium; 1mg Iron; 402mg Potassium; 135mg Phosphorus.
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* Exported from MasterCook *
Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower with Boursin Cheese
Recipe By: Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Servings: 6
1 large head cauliflower — cut into small same-size florts
1 clove garlic — minced
1 tablespoon half and half — or more if needed
4 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — grated
4 tablespoons Boursin Gourmet Spreadable Cheese, Garlic & Herb — crumbled
salt/pepper to taste
1. Place cauliflower florets in a pan with enough water to cover, and add garlic and a small amount of salt.
2. Let cauliflower come to a boil, then lower heat and cook 15-20 minutes, or until cauliflower is very soft.
3. Remove from heat and pour into a colander. Allow to drain for at least 10 minutes. Do not skip this step or the finished dish will be watery.
4. When cauliflower is well drained, pour into food processor and puree, adding the half and half if needed. You could also use a potato masher or a small hand beater to “whip” the cauliflower as you would potatoes, although the texture will not be as smooth.
5. Put cauliflower back into the pan you cooked it in and heat on very low. Add Parmesan, Boursin goat cheese and stir until both are incorporated and melted. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Heat 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly so it does not stick to the bottom. Serve hot, with a little freshly grated Parmesan on top if desired.
Per Serving: 81 Calories; 6g Fat (67.5% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 18mg Cholesterol; 170mg Sodium; trace Total Sugars; trace Vitamin D; 133mg Calcium; trace Iron; 68mg Potassium; 79mg Phosphorus.
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