This dish is literally me going through every nook and cranny of my fridge, trying to find something to make for dinner. It’s a loose interpretation of a Coq au Vin, but with normal people ingredients (for one, I don’t know where I can buy a rooster) and very lazy cooking techniques.
Serves four
Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs, cut to bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 strips of bacon, sliced
A handful of button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of marsala wine or red wine or red vermouth
1-2 cups of low-sodium chicken stock
1 tbsp. tomato paste
How to make:
- Add 1 tbsp. olive oil in a pot and cook the bacon until crisp. Move to a plate with some paper towels so that the bacon doesn’t get soggy.
- If the bacon rendered its fat, remove all but 2–3 tbsp. of it.
- Sauté the onion and garlic until fragrant.
- Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Since they’re bite-sized, they won’t take more than 5–10 minutes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper once they start to color.
- Add the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot. Reduce the liquid by half.
- Next, add the tomato paste and stir until well-combined with the chicken.
- Add the chicken stock until the meat is almost covered. Feel free to add water if the stock isn’t enough.
- Lower the heat to medium and leave to stew for about 30 minutes.
- In a separate pan, brown the mushrooms in 1 tbsp. of butter or olive oil. Do this about 5 minutes before the stew finishes cooking.
- Check for seasonings. Add a teaspoon of dried oregano if you have it. Leave out if you don’t.
- Stir in the bacon and the mushrooms before serving.
Optional: Stir in a slurry if you want a thicker sauce.