COQ AU VIN BLANC

• whole chicken
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 onions
• 2 bulbs (heads) of garlic
• 4-5 carrots
• 1/4 lb fresh mushroom (we used Cedesden mushroom, wild from the ridges of Sagada)
• 1/2 bottle white wine, preferably dry (we used Sagada's Piitik Pear Wine)
• 1/2 pack heavy cream

Cooking Process
Cut up chicken into serving pieces and smother with ground pepper (no salt). Chop onions, garlic and carrots. Heat oil and butter on high heat. When the butter sings (the edge should be getting brown), put chicken into pan in one layer. Don't mix. Turn chicken when brown. When both sides are brown, toss-in the onions, garlic and carrots. Mix together and ensure the caramelized fat coats the veggies. Pour the wine. Add salt and mushroom and mix. When the boiling is already rapid, simmer for 25 minutes uncovered. Liquid after 25 minutes should be about l/2 cup. If more, remove everything with a strainer and allow the liquid to reduce to 1/2 cup. Add cream and mix, then bring back all the ingredients making sure the sauce coats everything. Turn the heat off before it boils.

Poilane Sourdough Bread
Aklay out-did himself when he served Poilane sourdough bread and butter with the meal. He explained that Poilane is not just your average french bread. It is perhaps the pinnacle of Parisian baking. At the Poilane Bakery, located at the Saint Germain des Prés district of Paris, only a few loaves of bread are made per day and limited quantities are shipped through the most expedient means available to the world's leading capitals. Yeah, I'm talking about being air-freighted by Concorde to New York's finest restaurants, perhaps a couple of loaves to Australia for the French ambassador, etc. The Poilane bread undergoes natural fermentation (not yeast), uses leaven, consist of 100% whole wheat flour, and entirely organic. It is dense and chewy but not quite bagel, it has a thick golden crust with a slightly sour flavor, but not quite as sour as sourdough bread. It was so good I think I ate an equal amount of bread with the dish.

Verdict
The classic coq au vin is usually made with red wine, but Aklay chose the white, sweet Pear wine of Sagada. It is perhaps one the best dishes we've whipped up in our cooking lessons. As he himself exclaimed, "...ah, this is exactly how it tastes in France!" I couldn't get a better compliment than that. Top that goodness with his Poilane bread with a generous spread of butter....ah....I felt like royalty feasting on such gastronomic indulgence. Moments like this make me rethink....hmmm, there must be a God!

--- TheLoneRider

Aklay Tips:

• Butter will burn first before the oil. Ensure that when the butter sings (read: before it burns), you put in the other ingredients.
• Cooking is left uncovered to facilitate reduction of liquid.
• The consistency of the sauce is just right when you dip the spoon into it, run your finger on the back of the spoon, and the sauce doesn't run to cover the finger mark.

Related Links:

• Poilane Bakery

Reader Comments / Rate this Recipe:

Ruben
(Oct 28, '07) sounds good, will try the recipe, thanks for sharing chef LoneRider!

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