Rooster in Red Wine / Coq au Chambertin

This is already my fourth version of Coq au Vin - it's such a classic, and always worth it to try a new version to find the perfect balance between effort and depth of taste.

The reason this version is rated so low is mainly because the chicken dried out. I have no idea why this happened, and whether it was my fault or the recipe's, but I will have to try it again to find out. The meat was very aromatic on the outside, but not very tasty on the inside. Also, the recipe wasn't really clear about when to add the mushrooms, but hinted at that it would be right at the end. This is a shame, as the mushrooms didn't pick up any flavour or the red wine nor did it give off any flavour to the sauce.

Furthermore there was a mistake (might be the translator's/editor's error though) - the list of ingredients lists one bottle of Chambertin and one bottle of red wine from burgundy - Chambertin is a red wine from burgundy. Although there are recipes requiring two whole bottles of red wine, I doubt that it is the case here.

Other than that, the recipe was pretty easy. Chopping the chicken into 8 pieces was quite a task (Ad Hoc at Home has good instructions), and you might want to ask your butcher to do that for you - on the other hand I used the carcass to make a wonderful chicken broth for next week (sterilise your largest jam pots and pour the (nearly) boiling broth into them, this should last at least a few weeks). The meat on the carcass, by the way, was really tender! And 100ml Cognac is a lot - we actually managed to grill our fume hood.

Comparing all 4 versions, the Coq au Vin Bourguignon from Cuisine of the Rose is by far the tastiest, but also the most intricate; both this version and Chicken Braised in Red Wine from The Cook's Book are possibly the easier versions, though not as convincing, while the Coq au Vin from Die echte Jeden-Tag-Küche is the best compromise.

Served with Pea and Mint Mash and baked potatoes.

Edited 21 June 2011: We reheated the chicken and let it simmer for at least another 1/2 hour - what a difference, this time the meat was very tender! Apparently 1 hour simmering is just not enough.