After watching Julie & Julia, I was inspired to make a dish where an emphatic “yum” came after the first bite (I'm probably in good company.). My last big yum came from cream I made for my daughter's birthday cake; it was the kind of homemade panna cream the local university café used to place atop my mocha. Pure heaven.
The next day I perused an old Cook’s Illustrated issue and found a simple Coq au Vin recipe. I’ve made it before never with boneless skinless thigh meat, always on the bone. I mentioned Coq au Vin to my husband, and he grimaced, “I’ve never had one that I liked.” Cook’s Illustrated has never let me down so I knew this recipe would be up to the challenge.
After trimming 2 1/2 pounds of boneless thigh meat, slowly reducing the wine broth, and browning the chicken, we had an emergency. My 3 1/2 year old son felt our new little fish needed a proper dinner and poured an obscene amount of food into the tank. Ah, boys will be boys.
Fast forward with a glass of wine in my hand, and a St. Germain & bourbon cocktail in my husband's hand (who painstakingly cleaned the tank), dinner was finally served. Joining the chicken stew were some slightly overcooked egg noodles... which I’ll blame on the fish feeding fiasco.
Drum roll please.... The first words out of my husband’s mouth were, “Wow, this is so tasty...pause...chew...this is the best Coq au Vin I have ever had.” whew. Not missing a beat, the kids said it was the best chicken and had a few more servings. Sounds like yum to me.
