Chicken pot pie is one of the best cold-weather foods around. You may have grown up chowing down on traditional pot pie, maybe even a microwavable version, but it’s time to try something new. Today we’re making Coq Au Vin Pot Pie. The crispy chicken with paprika and thyme, the Madeira wine and bacon additions, all come together to give this classic dish a deliciously French twist.
In researching pot pie recipes, I found that controversy abounds when it come to which vegetables one should add. The vegetables included in this pot pie recipe are carrots, peas, celery, and mushrooms. The most elemental flavors come from those mushrooms cooked alongside the bacon. The texture of this dish is very pleasant given the flour coating on the chicken, thickening the sauce into a gravy as it cooks. The ingredients and procedures have been adapted from this recipe on the New York Times cooking blog.
Ingredients
Serves 4 – 6, cooking time approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
- 6 ounces of bacon, cut into strips (1/2 inch wide)
- 1/2 cups of frozen peas
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, thickly sliced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 pound boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- ¼ cup Madeira wine
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, more for garnish
- 2 pie crusts, chilled, one for the top and one for the bottom
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water (egg wash)
Procedures
- Heat oil and garlic together over low heat. When it sizzles, add bacon and onions and cook, stirring often, until fat is rendered and bacon is golden brown. Then add mushrooms. carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are browned and slightly softened.
- In a sealable plastic bag, combine flour, thyme, paprika, 2 large pinches salt and 1 large pinch pepper. Add bite-sized pieces of chicken and shake well to coat.
- In the skillet with the bacon and vegetable mixture, add butter and melt over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and any flour that remains in the bag. Cook, stirring, until chicken pieces are golden and the flour on the bottom of the pan is browned.
- Pour in parsley, stock, Madeira, the frozen peas, and vinegar. Scrape the bottom of pan, and let simmer about 5 minutes, until thickened. Taste for salt, pepper and vinegar and adjust the seasonings. Turn off heat and stir in parsley.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the bottom crust into an ungreased 9-inch round pie dish. Transfer chicken and gravy, prioritizing the chicken and vegetables with a ladle. If there is too much gravy, discard some; otherwise the pie will overflow and drip onto the floor of your oven while it cooks.
- Drape the second crust over filling, making a few slits or decorative holes on top. Tuck edges down around filling and brush crust with the egg wash.
- Bake until crust is browned and filling is bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes. After removing, let the pie cool slightly, at least 10 minutes, before serving with a big spoon. If desired, garnish each serving with parsley.
Coq Au Vin Pot Pie is something of a “special occasion” dish, best for a snowstorm or a long weekend stuck indoors. It will leave your kitchen smelling heavenly. The bacon and chicken make it especially hearty, so leftovers will stretch nicely. Each serving works out to around $4.60. You can save more by making your own pie crusts, but that is a post for another day!