I love coq au vin - the dish is so savoury and rich in flavors and textures. The only thing is that it was exclusively a weekend dish. Cooking it in the oven low and slow took hours, and I even tried to adapt it for the slow cooker, but liquid never really came our that great because it never reached the simmer point. Enter the pressure cooker, the perfect tool to turn this all day recipe into a weeknight dinner that's sure to please and possibly ruin other weeknight meals because this one will just taste so much better. My recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's Coq au Vin recipe. I took some steps to make it easier, and faster to create.
INGREDIENTS
3 lbs bone in, skin on chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
26 oz (750 mL) Red Wine (Burgundy and Pinot Noir work best)
16 oz (500 mL) Chicken Bone broth (sub stock plus 1 pack gelatin if no bone broth on hand)
2 carrots (no need to chop)
1 medium onion (peeled, cut in quarters)
1 stalk celery, cut in hlad
1 bunch parsley (about a handful)
12 oz (350g) peeled pearl onions (I buy them frozen, pre-peeled)
12 oz (350g) Crimini/Bella or White Mushrooms, cut into quarters
16oz salt pork, diced (you can sub in pancetta if you need)
Salt and Pepper to taste
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Pressure Cooker (Min 6 qt, I use 8qt instant pot)
Directions
Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
Optional*: Heat the sauté pan on medium high, and once hot, add in about 2 tbsp of the cooking on. Without crowding the chicken, place the pieces in the pan skin side down, and saute until browned. Once browned, remove to the pressure cooker.
*The reason I call this step optional is that every reputable recipe calls for this step, but once the chicken is braised (cooked in liquid) I honestly cannot tell the difference in taste so I have been skipping it.
Place the chicken, wine, bone broth, carrots, onion, celery and parsley in the pressure cooker. Secure the lid, making sure to set the vent to closed, and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.
NOTE: In the 8 qt instant pot, the steps below take about as much time the instant pot takes to get to pressure and then remain at pressure for the 12 minutes suggested. If you are using a stove top pressure cooker, especially one that is lower volume, I recommend you check on your pressure cooker FREQUENTLY to avoid an accident
While the pressure cooker is cooking the chicken, add in the salt pork into the already hot sauté pan (or if you didn't brown the chicken, get the sauté pan hot) and cook until it is crispy, really crispy, not just crispy on the outside, this should take about 12 minutes. Once crispy, remove the cooked pieces from the pan and leave the fat in the pan.
Add the pearl onions into the saute pan, sprinkle with a bit of salt. Cook in the salt pork fat until they are slightly softened and the outsides are golden brown, about 10 minutes. If the outsides are browning quickly and the onions are still hard, turn the burn down. Once the pearl onions are cooked, remove them to the same bowl as the cooked salt pork.
Add the mushrooms to the sauté pan and cook in the remaining pork renderings for about 15 minutes. Cook them longer than you think you need to, they should get soft, render out their water, and then continue sautéing until they much darker in color and very soft. Once cooked, set aside.
At this point the chicken should be cooked. Release the pressure from the cooker and remove the chicken to a oven proof pan, and keep in the oven on 250°F. Remove the carrot, celery, onion and parsley and toss. Cook down the remaining liquid in the pot by simmering it until it is half the volume it was when you started. It should be a thick sauce consistency.
Serve by drizzling reduced wine sauce over chicken, and sprinkling the cooked salt pork, pearl onions and mushrooms over top. Bon Appetit!