Feeling French!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD!!! I won't say how old he is today, BUT I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

Ah, the French. Say what you will about them, those people can cook like nobody's business!

Little Known Fact: Oui, Merci bo cou, Omlette du frommage, and how to count to three are the only things I know how to say in French. I'm not even sure if any of those are spelled right.

When I was home over Christmas, my mum and I watched "Julie and Julia" together. I really, really like that movie, though I don't really know why. It might have something to do with all the drool-worthy food. Well, it got me all inspired. I even want a copy of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" now. If a certain hubby gets it for me, I promise to make anything he wants out of it. :-D Being inspired, I decided to look up some French recipes. I, of course, found Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy) everywhere, but what really caught my fancy was the Coq au Vin (Chicken with Wine). I spent three days mispronouncing the name, though, until Heather finally corrected me. Well, I found some recipes that really piqued my interest here and here, but don't you know Taste of Home won out...as usual.



Coq au Vin

* 6 Servings
* Prep: 35 min. Cook: 55 min.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1 roasting chicken (6 to 7 pounds), cut up and skin removed
* 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
* 1 pound small fresh mushrooms
* 1 cup chopped carrots
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
* 1-1/2 cups diced plum tomatoes
* 2/3 cup dry red wine or chicken broth
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 tablespoons minced chives
* Hot cooked rice

Directions

* In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat.
* In a Dutch oven, brown chicken in 3 tablespoons oil on all sides in batches. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms, carrots, celery and shallots in remaining oil until tender.
* Stir in the tomatoes, wine, broth, tarragon, bay leaf and reserved chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180°, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle with chives. Serve with rice. Yield: 6 servings.

Okay, here I go with the chicken. This was the first time I had ever disassembled or skinned a chicken. Do you hear me? First ever! And I freaking rocked it. Seriously, if I can do it, especially without maiming myself in some way, anyone can. You just have to show the chicken who's boss and put away your fear of getting messy. Snap! Off comes the leg. The little $2 boning knife there helps a lot too. The bones won't separate as easily with a whole bunch of meat and tendons cushioning them.

And now the skinning process has begun. The trick is to use your fingers and thumbs to get underneath the skin and do most of the separating before you try pulling it off. Once you've done enough subcutaneous work, you can pull off the skin off the body of the bird in one go like you would a shirt.

This was my dredging setup. As you can see, my small little Ziplock bag was just not going to do it. I divided the chicken into three batches, snapped the top onto my big, plastic bowl, and gave her a good shake. Voila! Floury chicken.

I used another plastic bowl to hold the seared chicken in.

Then the veggies went in. I left the mushrooms whole so that Mike could pick them out easily. Mike doesn't like mushrooms...because he's crazy.

And in goes the chicken.

Granted, it doesn't look pretty there in the pot, but looks do not matter. Trust me.

And there it is on top of some yummy white rice. Pair that with some sparkling wine leftover from New Year's and you've got yourself a really fancy dinner.

I could have run away with and married this meal. That's how much I loved it. Mike too. Oh. My. Goodness! I can't even describe it. Just make it and eat it. You'll understand then. If this is what all French food is like, I may have to make one French meal a week...or more. Like I said, just go make and eat this meal. You will not regret it. Now I just wonder what will happen when I finally get to watch "Eat, Pray, Love".

And now for something completely different: My new calendar arrived. Okay, leave if you must, but I am so excited for my Art of Tea calendar! Let me share it with you.

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