Coq au Gewurztraminer

My first attempt to cooked Coq Au Gewurztraminer based on recipe in Chubby Hubby.

For my first attempt i would say it is quite a success cos the plates were all clean, leaving just the sauce, after the dinner. The sauce tasted a bit sour but it is still quite nice. I wonder whether it is suppose to be like that or whether I bought the wrong wine. But the aroma is really nice so I took a sip of the sauce before i put in the cream. It is sooo sour. After the sauce was added it was much much better and we even drink the sauce, leaving only a few spoonful. Well, I will change the wine for my next attempt to see whether it would taste even better. The sauce was still quite watery after i added the cream so i decided to put some cornstarch to thicken it. I like my sauce creamy so that it will stick to the chicken when i eat it. Mum said the onion i use is not medium as mentioned in the recipe. Mine was large onion but it is ok, everyone enjoyed the onion.

The only time i ate this dish is in Ooster located in Suntec and it was just last Thursday. It is such a huge difference. The sauce is dark in colour and it uses breast meat i guess or it must be really over-cooked thigh meat. It was our team dinner so all of us ordered some dishes to share. When the dish was presented to me, i took one bite and thought it was beef. It is only after that, they told me it is a chicken. After tasting that, i was considering not trying out the recipe as it really tasted quite awful. Well, i'm glad i stick to my plan and it turned out quite fine.

Feeds 2 hungry people or 4 normal folk
1tbsp olive oil
50g butter
100g pancetta, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
200g button mushrooms, quartered
2 carrots, diced
3tbsp chopped parsley
4 chicken thighs
300ml double or thickend cream
500ml Gewürztraminer (or Riesling)

Melt the butter and the oil together in a heavy-based pot.

Put in the pancetta and let it colour a little, then add the carrots, onions and garlic. Leave to cook over a moderate heat until the onions have softened but not coloured. Scoop the carrots, pancetta and onions out with a draining spoon and put aside in a bowl or on a plate.

Brown the chicken thighs in the pot. Pour the carrots, pancetta and onions back into the pot. Turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Quickly bring the liquid to boiling and then turn it down to a simmer. Let everything cook at a gentle bubble for 25 minutes, turning the chicken from time to time.

Lift the chicken out of the pan. Put them into a bowl or on a plate and cover to keep warm.

Pour in the cream. Season with salt, pepper (and sugar to taste) and stir in the chopped parsley. Also add the mushrooms. Let the sauce thicken while the mushrooms cook. You want the sauce to reduce substantially so that the liquid is a nice delicious gravy.

When ready, put the chicken back in the pot and let it get heated through again. Serve when ready.