Coq au riesling | Daily Mail Online

Alsace’s answer to coq au vin. In fact, I’ve never been entirely happy with coq au vin because the red wine sauce is never quite as deep and red as I think it should be. Coq au Riesling, on the other hand, works much better because white wine with some cream and lots of parsley looks much more appetising.

SERVES 4-6

2 tbsp vegetable oil

70g unsalted butter

12 shallots, peeled but left whole

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

160g smoked bacon lardons

250g chestnut mushrooms, wiped and halved if large

1 free-range chicken (about 1.7kg), jointed into 8 pieces

1 tbsp plain flour

500ml medium-dry Riesling

350ml chicken stock (see the book for homemade)

1 bay leaf

2 thyme sprigs

salt and black pepper

100ml single cream

1 egg yolk

handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• Heat half the oil and half the butter in a shallow flameproof casserole dish and fry the shallots, garlic and lardons until the shallots have started to colour. Add the mushrooms and fry for a couple more minutes. Transfer everything to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Add the remaining oil and butter to the casserole dish. Dust the chicken joints with flour and brown them in a couple of batches.
• Put all the chicken back in the pan and add the wine, stock, herbs and the cooked shallots, lardons and mushrooms. Season with a teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, uncovered. Pass everything through a colander set over a bowl and keep the chicken, lardons and vegetables warm.
• Return the strained liquid and juices to the pan and reduce a little. Take the pan off the heat. Whisk the cream with the egg yolk and a ladleful of the reduced cooking liquid, then pour this into the pan with the stock. Place over a medium heat until the sauce has thickened, but don’t let it boil.
• Put everything back into the pan and let it warm through. Check the seasoning and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with pommes purée or buttered spätzle (recipes for both in the book).