Coq Au Vin - Cooked Under Pressure

Coq Au Vin is something I usually end up making for dinner over the weekend. The guys in my household are absolutely infatuated with chicken in red wine with onions, mushrooms and bacon. However, with the recent addition of my pressure cooker, I tried making this dish on a work day, and it was finished within 30 mins. Woot !

When I cook this dish in my dutch oven, I usually end up using a whole bottle of red wine. With the pressure cooker, because all the juices are trapped in, you actually need to reduce the amount of liquid, otherwise you will end up with a very watery sauce. Also with using the pressure cooker, I found it easier to just skip the braised onions part that Julia Child's recipe calls for. After all, I am using the pressure cooker to help me save time. :)

Coq Au Vin - Cooked Under Pressure
Based on Julia Child's Book ~ Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Feeds 4 to 6 people

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 250g of Speck (cut into 1.5cm width slices) - can substitute with bacon
  
• 3 pieces of maryland chicken (Drumstick and thigh separated)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 1 onion (halved then cut into quarters)
• 1 cup red wine
• 3/4 cup of beef stock
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 2 bay leaf
  

Method:

1. In the pressure cooker, sauté the speck\bacon slowly in hot butter until it is very lightly browned.
2. Dry and season the chicken thoroughly with the salt and pepper. Brown the chicken in the pressure cooker, which would now have the bacon fat rendered out already.
3. Pour in the cognac. Either ignite the cognac with a lighted match and shake the cooker back and forth for several seconds until the flames subside, or just let the cognac cook off.
4. Add in the onions.
5. Pour the red wine into the cooker. Add in the beef stock. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Lock on the pressure cooker lid and bring the cooker to pressure on high setting (15 psi), then continue to cook for 15 mins.
6. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the mushrooms in a separate pan (recipe follows).

Sauteed Mushrooms:


• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• handful of Button Mushrooms (halved or quartered if large)
• 50g butter
• 1 stalk green onion (finely sliced.. this is optional)
• salt & pepper
  
  
7. After 15 mins, turn the heat off and release the pressure from the cooker using the automatic release method. Remove the lid from the pressure cooker and taste the sauce and correct the seasoning if required.
8. Keep the cooker over a low heat and prepare the finish for the dish (recipe follows)
   
   Finish (buerre manie):
   


• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• Sprigs of fresh parsley (optional)
  
  
9. Remove the chicken and arrange it in a casserole dish. Discard the bay leaves. The chicken should be tender enough to be able to fall off the bone easily.
10. Blend the butter and flour together into a smooth paste. Mix the paste into the sauce in the pressure cooker with a wire whip. Bring to the simmer, stirring, and simmer for a minute or two. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
11. Place the sauteed mushrooms around the chicken and ladle the sauce and onions over the chicken and the mushrooms.
12. If you like, decorate with spring for parsley. (this part is optional).

Serve with some mash potatoes, rice or some bread to soak up the yummy sauce. :)

Coq Au Sauvignon Blanc - Cooked Under Pressure

I finished work today at about 7pm.. got home at about 7.30pm... chopped up some chicken.. veggies. Browned the chicken.. threw everything in a pot. Dinner was ready at 8.07pm.

If I didn't already mention it before...I love my new pressure cooker !!

This is a variant on 'Coq Au Vin' which is a French dish that translates to 'Rooster in Wine'. Coq Au Vin is made with red wine. However for this time, I'm using a white wine. Sauvignon Blanc to be exact. Not really by choice, but it's because I've actually run out of red wine at home.

Yes.. probably for the 1st time.. I have no reds at home. Only a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

So this Coq Au Sauvignon Blanc is really 'Chicken in White Wine'. The Sauvignon Blanc can be substituted with any other types of white wine you have available.

Also, instead of going for the full blown Julia Child's Coq Au Vin recipe, I've scaled it back to omit the braising of the pearl onions. And I use some Speck Ham I have in my fridge instead of the bacon. I also added in some carrots to help sweeten the sauce.

As mentioned before, I've put my new pressure cooker back to work. According to the guide, chicken is done in 8mins on high (15 psi) or 15mins on the low (8 psi) setting.

Coq Au Sauvignon Blanc (Chicken in White Wine)

variant of a Coq Au Vin recipe I've made before, which can be found at smitten kitchen

• 3 Maryland Chicken Thigh Pieces (drumsticks separated, thigh pieces cut into two)
• Flour for dusting
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 250g Speck Ham (sliced & diced into 2cm wide pieces)
• 3 cloves garlic (smashed)
• 1 large brown onion (quartered)
• 2 carrots (diced)
• 2 cups white wine
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• Salt & Pepper

Season chicken pieces with salt & pepper. Dust with some plain flour and set aside.

In the cooker, melt butter in the olive oil. Add the Speck Ham, garlic, onions and carrot to the cooker and saute until the onions have started to brown. Remove from the cooker with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Brown the chicken pieces in the cooker on all sides. Pour back in the Speck, garlic, onions and carrots. Add the thyme and pour in the white wine. Close the lid on the pressure cooker, set to cook on high (15 psi) and bring cooker to pressure. After 8 mins turn off the heat. Release the pressure using the automatic release setting and remove the lid.

While the pressure cooker was cooking, in a separate pan, put together:

Sauteed Mushrooms:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• handful of Button Mushrooms (halved or quartered if large)
• 50g butter
• 1 stalk green onion (finely sliced.. this is optional)
• salt & pepper

Once the lid is removed from the pressure cooker, add in the saute mushrooms.

Finish off the dish by thickening the sauce with a Roux made out of 1 tablespoon of butter to 1 tablespoon of plain flour. Or you can use about 150ml of thickened cream. I went for the cream option this time as I was pressed for time and had some available in my fridge.



Serve with rice, potatoes or even just 'as is' for a low-carb option. :)

Beef Rendang - Cooked Under Pressure

I finally managed to get to PoK today and got myself a Fagor Duo Pressure Cooker.. :)

This is the kitchen appliance which will help reduce my cooking time for beef stews from 3 hrs to 40 mins and produce risottos in 7 mins !!!

I've been researching online for over a month now on which pressure cooker to buy. I've never actually used one before. But I have seen my grandma use her rather loud pressure cooker to cook abalone. An appliance which I remember to quite scary... The way it would go off.. I used to think it would blow up in someone's face.

After a going through numerous reviews of pressure cookers on Amazon, I had pretty much narrowed my choices down to a stovetop cooker. An electric cooker would save an extra stovetop space, but given the amount of bench space available at my little kitchenette, it wasn't going to be much different. A few reviewers who had both an electric and stovetop cooker said that they preferred the stovetop version over the electronic cookers. This was mostly due to the ease of browning meats and better control of the temperature and high pressure achieved.

After reading Helen @ GrabYourFork's review on three difference pressure cookers, I was pretty much sold on the Fagor Duo.

I christened my new pressure cooker with my Beef Rendang recipe. :)

This usually takes me about 3 hrs to make and requires constant stirring and checking to make sure the bottom doesn't stick and burn. In the Fagor Duo, it took about 35 mins. With 5-7 mins extra cooking with the lid off when I had to add in the sugar, salt and toasted desiccated coconut.

My version of beef rendang is probably less dry and has more sauce (..I like to mix the sauce in with my rice..) than the traditional version. I doubled the amount of coconut milk to achieve this and also added in some curry leaves. You can half the coconut milk required and omit the curry leaves if you like.

Here is the full recipe...

Beef Rendang

In a food processor, pulse together:

• 3cm galangal (sliced)
• 3cm ginger (skin removed)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 dried chilli (cut up with scissors, soaked in water, seeds discarded)

Then use as a spice rub and mix together with:

• 1kg chuck steak (cut into 3cm cubes)
• 2 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 teaspoon salt

Set the mixed beef cubes aside and in the pressure cooker stir fry:

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 10 red shallots (roughly sliced)
• 1 stalk lemongrass (ends removed, sliced into 3 parts, bruised, outer green layer discarded)

Once the shallots start to brown, add in the following spices and stir fry together:

• 3 curry leaves (optional)
• 2 star anise
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (torn in half down the spine)
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon bark (about 5cm long..)

After you can start to smell the aroma from the spices, the add in the beef and brown on all sides, then pour in (one after another):

• 2 teaspoons tamarind paste (diluted with a tablespoon of water)
• 1 tablespoon thick soy sauce
• 500ml coconut milk

If the coconut milk doesn't come up half way to the beef cubes, then add in 1/2 cup of water.

Place lid on pressure cooker, set it to high (15 psi), enable safety lock, then turn up the heat to bring the cooker to pressure. Once pressure has been achieved, turn the heat back down so that only slow continued puffs of steam are released. After 35 mins, turn the heat off, then use the automatic release method to release the pressure. Once all the pressure has been released, unlock the cooker and remove the lid.

Don't worry if the contents in the pot looks a bit weird (its the coconut milk that has separated), just give it a quick stir to combine everything together again.

Turn the heat back on to the lowest setting and add:

• 5cm stick brown block sugar (broken up with a pestle mortar..see notes below for substitutes)
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut (lightly toasted in a pan)
• salt to taste

Continue to simmer on low heat for about 5-7 mins. Gently stir the contents in the pot around and make sure everything is combined and the block sugar (if using) has broken down.

Taste the rendang sauce and add more sugar or salt as required.

Serve with some plain steam rice or with some coconut rice.



Notes:

• I got the brown block sugar from a Asian grocery store. You can use palm sugar (which would probably be more authentic) or substitute this with about 1 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar instead.
• Bruising the lemongrass consisted of smashing it with the back of my chopping knife
• I got the cinnamon bark from a Asian grocery store. It doesn't have the curly bits like normal cinnamon and looks a lot more 'bark-like'. I think it maybe called Cassia bark.. but I can't be sure. You can use a normal cinnamon stick instead.
• After making this, I think you can probably change the order around a bit by using 1 cup of water to cook the beef in the pressure cooker, and adding the coconut milk in the last 5-7 mins of cooking. I will give this method a try, once I get my hands on some more chuck steak :)