| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 13 hr |
| Prep: | 1 hr |
| Inactive: | 8 hr |
| Cook: | 4 hr |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 24 to 30 pearl onions
- 4 chicken thighs and legs, or 1 (5 to 7-pound) stewing chicken, cut into serving pieces
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- 6 ounces salt pork, slab bacon, or lardon, cubed
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, quartered
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 (750-ml) bottles red wine, preferably pinot noir
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 2 stalks celery, quartered
- 2 medium carrots, quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups chicken stock or broth
Instructions
- Cut off the root end of each pearl onion and make an “x” with your knife in its place. Bring 2 to 3 cups of water to a boil and drop in the onions for 1 minute. Remove the onions from the pot, allow them to cool, and then peel. You should be able to slide the onions right out of their skin. Set aside.
- Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the chicken pieces, a few at a time, into a large (1 or 2-gallon) sealable plastic bag along with the flour. Shake to coat all of the pieces of the chicken. Remove the chicken from the bag to a metal rack.
- Add the 2 tablespoons of water to a large, 12-inch saute pan over medium heat along with the salt pork. Cover and cook until the water is gone, and then continue to cook until the salt pork cubes are golden brown and crispy, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the salt pork from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, using the remaining fat, add the pearl onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until lightly brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Next, brown the chicken pieces on each side until golden brown, working in batches if necessary to not overcrowd the pan. Transfer the chicken into a 7 to 8-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven.
- Add the mushrooms to the same 12-inch saute pan, adding the 1 tablespoon of butter if needed, and saute until they give up their liquid, approximately 5 minutes. Store the onions, mushrooms and pork in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Pour off any remaining fat and deglaze the pan with approximately 1 cup of the wine. Pour this into the Dutch oven along with the chicken stock, tomato paste, quartered onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Add all of the remaining wine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the chicken is tender. Maintain a very gentle simmer and stir occasionally.
- Once the chicken is done, remove it to a heatproof container, cover, and place it in the oven to keep warm. Strain the sauce in a colander and remove the carrots, onion, celery, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf. Return the sauce to the pot, place over medium heat, and reduce by 1/3. Depending on how much liquid you actually began with, this should take 20 to 45 minutes.
- Once the sauce has thickened, add the pearl onions, mushrooms, and pork and cook for another 15 minutes or until the heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, remove from the heat, add the chicken and serve. Serve over egg noodles, if desired.
- Cook¿s Note: If the sauce is not thick enough at the end of reducing, you may add a mixture of equal parts butter and flour kneaded together. Start with 1 tablespoon of each. Whisk this into the sauce for 4 to 5 minutes and repeat, if necessary.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 573 |
| Total Fat | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 30 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 92 mg |
| Sodium | 1436 mg |
Reviews
Sheer Perfection! I love this recipe!
I made this dish the other day. I couldn’t decide whether to go with Ina Garten’s recipe or this one but Alton won out.
I didn’t see that any other reviewers had the issue that I did with making this recipe which I followed to a T. I don’t know if others that made this recipe used frozen pearl onions of prepared them from scratch as Alton’s recipe calls for. When I sauteed the fresh (not frozen) onions they started to leave their sugars in the bottom of the skillet. The recipe calls for an 8-10 minute saute however that was way too long. I only sauteed them for 7 minutes. After the browning of the chicken and mushrooms after the onions the bottom of my skillet was completely black! I went ahead and finished the dish but it turned out a little better than OK. For all the work involved I was definitely disappointed.
I will try this recipe again but will either saute the onions last or use frozen onions.
I didn’t see that any other reviewers had the issue that I did with making this recipe which I followed to a T. I don’t know if others that made this recipe used frozen pearl onions of prepared them from scratch as Alton’s recipe calls for. When I sauteed the fresh (not frozen) onions they started to leave their sugars in the bottom of the skillet. The recipe calls for an 8-10 minute saute however that was way too long. I only sauteed them for 7 minutes. After the browning of the chicken and mushrooms after the onions the bottom of my skillet was completely black! I went ahead and finished the dish but it turned out a little better than OK. For all the work involved I was definitely disappointed.
I will try this recipe again but will either saute the onions last or use frozen onions.
I made this recipe, following every step to the letter. It was wonderful. I had some leftover sauce, which I froze. A couple of weeks later, I defrosted it and cooked some more chicken. PHENOMENAL. Thanks, Alton for another great recipe!
This is my daughters birthday dinner. Every year I will cook whatever my daughters want fit their birthday dinner as long as they will help make it, it is great bonding time as well as teaching them how to cook. We saw this dish in the movie “Here comes the boom” and she said let’s make that one night. I researched recipes and liked this one the best and made it. It has become her favorite dish with mashed potatoes for the last couple of years. The recipe is time consuming, but well worth it and better the second day when the chicken just falls apart. Alton, you are the master
Like a lot of Alton recipes, it’s an insane amount of work but the results are outstanding. A must-do but save it for special occasions.
Most days, I’d rather make Alton’s 40 Cloves and Chicken recipe and drink two bottles of wine. But sometimes you need coq a vin.
Most days, I’d rather make Alton’s 40 Cloves and Chicken recipe and drink two bottles of wine. But sometimes you need coq a vin.
It is time consuming but so worth the effort. One of the best chicken dishes I have ever made.
Came out pretty good
Made half the portion
Made half the portion
This was delicious and was fun to make. Admittedly, I did not refrigerate the mushrooms overnight (sorry Alton) but it was delicious and it shortened the prep time considerably. Enjoy!
Very tasty, silky smooth and awesome sauce.