BB: Coq Au Vin

Bethany chose the first Barefoot Bloggers recipe for the month of December - Coq Au Vin. The recipe can be found on the Food Network website or in The Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics cookbook. Many of the Barefoot Bloggers recipes I either really look forward to or kind of dread, but this didn't fall into either category. I wanted to try it because it is a classic recipe, but at the same time . . . it's just chicken cooked in wine. That is the great thing about Barefoot Bloggers -it pushes me to make things I might normally skip over or put off until later (when I get a Dutch oven, when I don't already have so many dirty dishes in the sink).

So what was the outcome? I feel the same way I did before cooking Coq Au Vin. Kind of neutral. I think I made one major mistake: I used a bottle of red wine I found on our wine rack. It was a cheap bottle of red zinfandel (no offense to whomever is responsible for that - I say " found" because I know I have never bought a bottle of red zin). The recipe called for Burgundy . . . red zin is probably not a good substitute. There is a reason people advise against cooking with a wine you wouldn't drink.

Bad zinfandel flavor aside, we enjoyed the moist, tender (and yes, purple on the outside) chicken. My favorite part of making Coq Au Vin, however, was burning off the cognac. It almost melted our above-the-stove microwave, but it was exciting to see it flame up. (FYI - the recipe online doesn't include this step). I think I'll try this recipe again - with better wine and with the pot moved away from the appliances when I set it on fire!

See what the other members of Barefoot Bloggers thought of this recipe here.