MISSION COQ AU VIN: SERVING UP A DODGY OLD BOILER

So, here’s the thing.

I really, really dislike the new and growing trend towards quick and easy recipes.

I should clarify that, before I am bombarded with shrieks of anguish from people telling me that they need recipes to be quick and easy to sculpt time in their hectic schedules to prepare them. Let me rephrase my statement. I have no problems with recipes that are meant to contain few ingredients and to be prepared in a short amount of time. Pushed when you come back from work? Make an omelet. Stretched with life and kids? Sandwich away my dear friends. Let it not be said that I am anything but tolerant.

Where I have am starting to have real issues is with the current tendency of magazines and TV shows to fill their space with versions of classic recipes, debased so they can be squeezed into the schedules of the busy and the lazy. There appears to be little thought that the reason such recipes became classics in the first place is that they require effort to make. To counteract such an annoying current trend, I have begun to post a series of recipes on my Facebook page called “Mission…..”

These are recipes that are, to put it mildly, projects. They are recipes for dishes that might take a whole day, a couple of days or, in the case of the bacon I made recently, a whole week to complete. They may require trips to more than one shop to find the ingredients and, in one or two cases might even need a bit of online ordering before you are ready to begin the mission.

Despite all this, the end results are definitely worth the effort and I am thrilled to say that I have received dozens of e-mails from folks telling me that they have enjoyed not only the final product but also the process of preparing maple cured bacon, Hyderabadi biryani, mole negro and Brazilian feijoada to name just a few.

I am soon to begin filming a series of webisodes based on this series of recipes, with the rather terrific Small Screen Network based in Seattle. All of which means that you can expect to hear me pontificating on this subject for a good while to come. You have fair warning.

Next on the list of missions was one of my favourite dishes of all, the Burgundian Coq Au Vin. As the name suggests, it is a dish that was originally made with a cockerel that was too old or no longer able to do what cockerels do (I know how he feels). As the meat was tough, it was marinated for 24 hours with wine (a Burgundy, obviously) chopped carrots, celery and onion and a bouquet garni of fresh thyme and parsley. It was then cooked down and served with classic accompaniments of mushrooms, lardons of bacon and button onions.

It is, as all of these culinary missions are, a bit of a faff, but the final result is so good that it is definitely worth every second of all effort required. Of course, there are quick and easy versions of Coq Au Vin, but they are but a pale reflection of the real thing.

The truth is quite simple, like all these “Mission” recipes, the time spent preparing them is almost as important as the eating and, if you don’t have time to do it properly, it’s just God’s way of telling you that you are not meant to eat Coq Au Vin.

If you are interested in following along, I shall be posting more recipes in the following months. If you try them, let me know how you get on.

MISSION COQ AU VIN

INGREDIENTS

1 Large Cockerel (This may be hard to find. If so, buy a boiling chicken, which will stand up to the marinating and long, slow cooking)

4 Carrots

3 Stalks of Celery

1 Large White Onion

1 Bottle of Burgundy (Or any decent Pinot Noir)

2 Bunches of Fresh Parsley (One for the marinade and one to serve as a garnish)

1 Bunch of Fresh Thyme

1 Piece of Cheesecloth (In which to wrap the herbs)

1 Pint Chicken Stock (I made mine with the backbone and wingtips of the chicken, vegetables and a bouquet garni of herbs)

6 Strips of Bacon (Cut into lardons. I used my own homemade bacon, but any good unsmoked variety will do)

3 Cloves Garlic (finely minced)

20 Button Mushrooms

20 Pearl Onions

3 Ounces Plain (All Purpose Flour)

Salt & Pepper (I use white pepper during cooking and black pepper just before serving)

Olive Oil & Butter (For cooking)

METHOD

Joint the chicken into 8 pieces.

Make a mire poix (rough chop) of the carrots, onion and celery.

Place the chicken in a bowl with the Mire Poir and add the wine and the bouquet garni of herbs.

Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours.

After 24 hours drain the marinade from the chicken, retaining the liquid and the vegetables in separate bowls.

Dry the chicken thoroughly with kitchen towel and season on all sides with salt and pepper.

Melt 2 ounces of butter in a deep sided frying pan and when it begins to foam add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil.

Brown the chicken on both sides and remove from the pan.

Add the vegetables from the marinade to the pan along with the finely minced garlic and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the flour and combine well with the vegetables. Cook for a further 4 minutes on a low heat.

Return the liquid from the marinade to the pan and stir well to combine with the vegetables and flour.

Return the chicken to the pan.

Add 1 pint of chicken stock.

Simmer on a low heat for around 90 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally.

While the chicken is simmering, peel the pearl onions and stem and half the mushrooms.

In a separate pan, fry the bacon until golden and crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen towel.

Drain the bacon fat from the pan, keeping 2 tablespoons in reserve to cook the garnishes.

Fry the mushrooms in the bacon fat until they begin to colour and then remove from the pan.

Fry the onions in the bacon fat until they begin to colour and then remove from the pan.

When the chicken pieces are cooked (after around 90 minutes) remove them from the pan and drain the cooking liquid.

Discard the vegetables, which will have given their all by then, but retain the sauce.

Return the mushrooms and onions the pan along with the chicken pieces and the cooking liquid.

Simmer gently until the sauce is at the point that it will coat the back of a spoon.

Season with salt and black pepper for taste and add a handful of finely chopped parsley.

Plate the chicken coated with lots of sauce, onions and mushrooms and topped with plenty of bacon.

I served mine with buttery mashed potatoes.

Enjoy with a glass of great Burgundy and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

You have completed “Mission Coq Au Vin”

MISSION NAAN: BREADS OF THE KEEMA & GARLIC VARIETY

There are certain ways that you can tell a good curry house from a bad one and top of the list, of course, is the quality of their breads.

To look at me, it is pretty easy to see that I have a fondness for Indian breads. I adore mopping up thin dahl with flaky paratha, scooping up lamb bhuna with a chapati made of wheat or just simply tearing into a hot roti with no other accompaniment than a spoonful of raita. Best of all is the pillowy naan bread, eaten piping hot from the tandoor and dripping in heart clogging amounts of ghee.

Naan breads come in many shapes and forms and with many fillings, but perhaps my two favourites are the keema naan, filled with a spicy combination of ground lamb and peas and the simple garlic naan, flecked out a mixture of minced garlic and torn coriander leaf.

Continuing the “Year of Baking Dangerously” I decided to have a shot at making them at home. Now, obviously, I am not in the possession of a tandoor, but I found that cooking them on a hot flat griddle pan or even under a hot grill worked rather well. They are not quite as fluffy as those you might find in the traditional way, but they were not bad at all and are definitely on the list to make again.

If you give the recipe below a try, do report back and let me know how you got on.


INGREDIENTS (Makes Around 10 Naan)

For The Naan
2 Cups Strong Bread Flour
1 Cup Plain (All Purpose)Flour
1 7gm Packet of Dried Active Yeast (mixed with ½ Cup warm water)
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Salt.
2 Cups Warm Water

METHOD
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.

Mix the yeast and sugar with the ½ cup of warm water and allow to stand for 10 minutes until the yeast has begun to bubble.

Combine the yeast/water with the flour and begin to combine slowly with the other 2 cups of water. I used a stand mixer on a slow setting for around 8 minutes. Add more water if the dough becomes too stiff and a little more flour if it becomes too loose.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead gently on a floured surface for 4 minutes.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover in cling film and keep in a warm place until it has doubled in size (around 90 minutes)

After this time, knock the dough back, knead again gently for 3 minutes and separate the dough into 10 balls.

Place on a plate, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for another 30 Minutes.

If you want to make plain naan, you can simply roll these balls out to the desired size, brush with melted butter or ghee and cook under the grill or on a hit griddle until golden brown on both sides.

For The Keema
2 lbs Ground Lamb Shoulder
1 Onion (chopped)
2 Green Chillies (deseeded and minced)
2 Tbsp Ginger/Garlic Paste (made by blending garlic cloves with peeled fresh ginger and a little salt & water)
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
2 Tsp Garam Masala (I made my own, but you can use a good store bought version)
1 Pint Chicken Stock
1 Cup Frozen Peas

METHOD
Brown the meat in a frying pan, remove and drain off the excess fat.

Add 2 Tbsp oil to the hot pan and add the chopped onion.

Cook the onion until golden brown and then add the ginger/garlic paste.

Cook for 3 minutes and add the minced green chilli.

Cook for 3 minutes and add the ground spices, the salt and the sugar.

Cook for 3 minutes and return the meat to the pan combining well.

Add the chicken stock and cook the meat on a gentle heat until the liquid has almost disappeared leaving a dry curry.

Add the peas, combine well and cook until the dish is totally dry.

Decant to a bowl and allow to cool thoroughly.

To Make The Keema Naan

Take a piece of dough and roll it out until it is to the desired size.

Take 2 Tbspn of the keema filling and spread it out over half the area of the naan bread.

Fold over the remaining dough and roll out again gently until it is the same size.

Brush each side with melted butter or ghee and cook on a hot griddle or under the grill for about two minutes each side.

For garlic naan, simply replace the keema filling with a filling of finely minced garlic and chopped coriander leaf.

Serve with your favourite Indian curry and ENJOY