French recipes | RecipeTin Eats

French Sausage & Bean Casserole

Nagi — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 01:15:49 +0000

This is a simpliﬁed take on cassoulet, the famous French bean casserole. I keep the sausage but skip the conﬁt duck, and affectionately dub it ‘Poor Man’s Cassoulet’. One bite though and you’ll know there’s nothing poor about this dish.

Find this recipe on page 153 of Dinner.

This is a cookbook exclusive recipe!

This recipe is exclusive to my debut cookbook Dinner which includes a how-to video for every recipe. Just scan the QR code!

Just to explain….

I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀

I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise.

This page exists to display the how-to video for this recipe which I exclusively created for my debut cookbook, Dinner. Every recipe in the cookbook has a tutorial video. To watch it, you simply scan the QR code with your phone or tablet and it will take you straight to the recipe video like the one shown above!

Curious about my cookbook?

Read the cookbook overview
Browse all cookbook exclusive recipes here
Read the Cookbook Tales. Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of dirty dishes!! And quite a lot of Dozer. 😂

Stay tuned for more on this page! Some cookbook exclusive recipes will have extra information added as well as extra tips. I am also looking at enabling comments for selected recipes so I can answer reader questions about cookbook recipes. I’m just a little snowed under during this launch period – book tours, getting 131 recipe videos out, launching the book overseas. Please bear with me! – Nagi x (10 October 2022)

The post French Sausage & Bean Casserole appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Flan Pâtissier (French Custard Tart)

Nagi — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Introducing the world’s greatest custard tart: Flan Pâtissier! Also known as Parisian Flan, this incredible French tart is like a gigantic Portuguese Tart. It’s a flaky pastry crust filled with a wicked amount of creamy and rich vanilla custard that glows with a gorgeous bronze sheen after baking.

To say this thing is magnificent would be the understatement of the year. Words fail me. It’s that good!

Flan Pâtissier – French Custard Tart

Flan Pâtissier is a French custard tart that is made with a pastry crust filled with vanilla custard and baked.

Also known as Parisian Flan, you’ll find it in every suburban bakery all across France. It blows my mind to know that this pastry is so commonplace for the French that to them it’s considered no big deal as far as pastries go. To this Aussie lass, it is a big deal. It is phenomenally good. Indescribably great. My dessert discovery of the year.

Given especially that it’s a rare find in Australia, I was determined to crack the recipe. With the valuable help of a professional French pastry chef Jennifer Pogmore, I’m happy to report success!

Everyone who has tried the 20+ versions we churned out developing the recipe has loved it. They can’t get enough of it.

This is one of those recipes I’m so personally proud of because I worked hard to perfect it and do the original justice. And I’m thrilled to be sharing it with you!

Creamy custard inside

Crispy golden puff pastry base

About Flan Pâtissier

The custard used for Flan Pâtissier is Creme Patissiere, a rich and creamy vanilla custard used in many desserts in France. It gets its richness from egg yolks which, combined with cornflour/cornstarch, is what makes it set to a perfect consistency such that it can be sliced neatly but melts in your mouth when you eat it.

Chef Jennifer Pogmore tells me there are no hard rules in France about the type of pastry used for the Flan Pâtissier crust, it just comes down to the pastry chef making it. In both boulangeries (French bakeries) and patisseries, Pâte Sucrée (French sweet tart crust) is quite common, as is shortcrust and puff pastry.

I tried them all. But for me, I can’t look past puff pastry. The contrast of the fine, flaky, buttery pastry with the rich creamy custard just knocks this tart out of the park. And it LOOKS so good too!

Crispy base!!

You’ll love how the base comes out perfectly crispy in this recipe. Here’s a couple of photos so you can inspect them closely and see for yourself!! Not a patch of sogginess in sight:

It’s even crisp enough so you can hold the slice cantilevered in your hand. This is by design, because that’s exactly how Flan Pâtissier is supposed to be eaten!

Heads up: This is a long post!

While the idea of making Flan Pâtissier sounds deceptively easy – blind bake a puff pastry crust, fill it with custard and bake it! – the devil is in the detail. This especially applies to those who are not so confident at baking, or are custard first-timers.

To this end I’m sharing quite a lot of information in this post, to ensure success for you whether you are an old hand or new to baking.

If you are a capable baker, feel free to skip all the detail below and jump right to the recipe or recipe video!

Creme Patissiere custard filling

Puff pastry crust for Flan Pâtissier

The gorgeous finished product!

Custard for Flan Pâtissier: Creme Patissiere

The custard for Flan Pâtissier is Creme Patissiere, a creamy vanilla custard that is used in many French desserts.

While exact recipes for Creme Patissiere vary depending on the intended use (ie. baked vs not baked; required viscosity for pouring vs piping vs filling vs spreading etc), the base ingredients are almost always the same:

Eggs – Mostly yolks, for richness and also to help set the custard.
Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection.
Cornflour/cornstarch – For setting the custard and making it shiny (regular flour makes it dull). Attention FRENCH READERS: Do not use yellow cornflour, use white cornstarch!
Vanilla beans – For a beautiful vanilla flavour. I used vanilla beans from Vanilla Bean House (Australian online store) – plump and filled with a generous amount of vanilla seeds! Vanilla bean paste is a good substitute here.
Sugar – For sweetness. But not excessive sweetness! One of the things I adore about French desserts is that they are far less sweet than other typical Western desserts.
Milk – The liquid for custard. Some recipes also use cream, for added richness. I prefer the mouthfeel of milk enriched with butter.
Butter – As above, to enrich the custard.

Vanilla beans from Vanilla Bean House

How to scrap out vanilla bean seeds

1. How to make the custard for Flan Pâtissier

The custard for Flan Pâtissier uses both egg and cornflour to set it. There’s an ideal balance of the two that will achieve the right richness and set consistency so the tart can be cut into neat slices, yet the custard melts in your mouth when you eat it. I tried quite a few combinations before landing on what I think is the perfect balance!

Infuse milk with vanilla

Heat milk with 1/4 cup of sugar*, vanilla seeds and the leftover vanilla pods (see video for how I scrape the seeds out). Bring it to just below a boil. As soon as you see the milk starting to foam and rise, remove it straight from the stove.
TIP: Keep an eye on it as the milk starts to get hot because milk loves to boil over quite quickly!
* Adding a bit of sugar in this step helps to ensure the milk doesn’t scald on the base.
Infuse – Place the lid on (to prevent a skin from forming and loss of volume through evaporation) and leave for 10 minutes. This gives the milk time to be infused with the vanilla flavour as well as to cool slightly which eliminates any risk of hot milk accidentally scrambling the eggs in the next steps.

Eggs and cornflour mixture (thickening)

Eggs and cornflour (cornstarch) – Whisk the egg yolks, whole egg and sugar together until combined. Then whisk the cornflour in. It’s best to whisk eggs and sugar first before adding cornflour else you end up with a flurry of flour!
Slowly add half milk (tempering) – While whisking, slowly pour in half the milk. Just whisk until combined.
Don’t worry, there’s no risk of accidentally scrambling the eggs with the hot milk because it cooled in the 10 minutes we left it to infuse with the vanilla! However we still temper the mixtures in this step as an extra layer of safety.

Cook custard to thicken

Thicken custard on stove – Pour the egg/milk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk mixture. Then place it on a medium-low stove (or low, if your stove is strong), whisking constantly but leisurely, to ensure the base doesn’t catch. At first the mixture will be watery but after about 2 to 3 minutes as the it starts to heat up, you will suddenly feel the custard starting to thicken. Such a satisfying moment!!
Big lazy bubbles – Once the custard starts thickening, the next thing you are looking for is big, fat lazy bubbles popping up on the surface which indicates the custard is thick enough. Pause stirring for a few seconds to check if you have bubbles (see video).
20 seconds whisking – Once you see the lazy bubbles, keep whisking for another 20 seconds on the stove, then remove it from the heat.
Thick and creamy custard! This photo shows how the custard should look at this stage: Thick and creamy, it should leave ribbons on the surface when drizzled but still be pourable (see below for good visuals, or video).

Butter, straining and cooling

Enrich with butter – This is a FRENCH custard tart, so it should come as no surprise that we’re sneaking some butter in here to enrich the custard!
Strain – Pass the custard through a fine mesh strainer. This is to remove any larger chunks of vanilla that were loosened from the beans.
Press through all the custard and be sure to scrape the base of the strainer well. Then lick that spatula clean. Yes that’s an instruction – don’t waste a drop of that precious custard! 😂
Custard thickness – This is what the custard should look like at this stage. You can tell by looking at the surface how the custard is thick and creamy.

Cooling custard

Cover – Smooth the surface of the custard (I use a small offset spatula) then cover with cling wrap contacting the surface. Doing this prevents a skin from forming on the custard (nobody wants wisps of skin in their otherwise silky smooth custard!) as well as condensation, which will dilute the richness of the custard.
Cool – Let the custard cool on the counter (about 3 to 4 hours) before putting it in the fridge to fully chill.
12 – 24 hours in fridge recommended – Refrigerating the custard overnight will allow for optimal flavour development (a pro tip from professional French pastry chef!). But if you are in a hurry, you can proceed with the recipe as soon as the custard has cooled to room temperature, ie. skip the fridge time. To be honest, I don’t think most people will be able to tell the difference. But I wanted to share this recipe made the proper way!

Custard done, now it’s on to the pastry!

2. Flan Pâtissier puff pastry crust

As noted at the beginning, there’s no hard and fast rule about what crust should be used for a traditional Flan Pâtissier, though Pâte Sucrée (French sweet tart crust) and puff pastry seem to be the most common. For me, I can’t go past puff pastry for the delicious contrast of buttery, flaky pastry and the creamy, silky custard.

These days, store-bought puff pastry is actually quite good quality. Even the standard brands we find at grocery stores here in Australia such as Pampas are perfectly acceptable.

My only rule however is it must be butter puff pastry. Butter has much better flavour and puffs up better than the cheaper margarine/oil-based puff pastry! It’s absolutely worth the extra coin.

Puff pastry lid

Best pan: Springform cake pan with no base

The best way to make the crust for Flan Pâtissier using puff pastry is to use a springform pan WITHOUT the base. We’re going to bake it directly on the tray which is the trick that ensures the base is 100% crispy once filled with custard – this is a big part of the awesomeness that is Flan Pâtissier!

Note: Professional pâtissiers and pastry chefs use tall tart rings which are purpose-built rings without a base. A springform pan ring works just as well for this recipe.

Cut base and sides

TIP: Work with puff pastry that has thawed just enough that it’s still stiff but workable, and JUST pliable enough to line the springform pan. This is for ease of handling for this tart which has unusually high sides. Fully thawed puff pastry = floppy and sticky = impossible to line the tin sides and very messy to fit the base in.

Cut base using the inside of the springform pan as a guide. Remove excess pastry but SAVE IT in case we need to do emergency patch ups later! Then place the base in the freezer until required.
Cut sides – Cut three 5.5 x 25 cm (2.15 x 10″) strips out of a sheet of puff pastry, ensuring it is still as frozen as workably possible so it doesn’t flop when you line the sides.
TIP: Using a long knife, cut straight down into the pastry rather than slicing by dragging the knife along the pastry. This will preserve the beautifully flaky layers on the rim of the crust, like pictured in this post.

Line sides

Line springform pan with baking paper – Grease a 20cm / 8″ springform pan ring with butter then line the inner sides with baking paper cut to size. Place the ring on a sheet of baking paper sitting a plate. This is for ease of handling because we are not using the springform pan base. Baking the puff pastry shell directly on a tray guarantees the base remains 100% crispy once filled with the custard.
Baking paper actually isn’t essential, you could just butter or spray the sides with oil. However, the puff pastry tends to look more rustic (ie. flaky rather than neater) if you skip the baking paper.
Line sides with pastry – Line the inner sides of the springform pan with the pastry, overlapping by 1cm and using water to seal. You will need to trim the third strip so it fits.
Remember, work with stiff but just-pliable puff pastry else the sides will flop!
Press seams – At this stage, just press the seams; we will seal it properly later. Right now, we want to work fast while the pastry is still as frozen as possible.

Base

Place base in by gathering it up slightly so it doesn’t drag down the sides. Adjust as needed to centre it as best you can. The circumference of the base will overlap and go up the sides ever so slightly, which is the perfect insurance policy to avoid custard leakage.
Seal seams – Use the back of a teaspoon to press the base into the corners, then to “smear” the now-thawing puff pastry to seal it. Do this for the base and the sides.

Prick and freeze

Prick base with a fork about 30 times. This helps to stop the base from puffing up when we do the blind bake.
Freeze – Cover with cling wrap (with tart still sitting on the plate) then freeze for at least 2 hours. The purpose of freezing is to help reduce shrinkage when blind baking and also to help stop the tall puff pastry sides sliding down as it cooks.
The bonus is that the firmed crust doesn’t get all scratched up and dented when we line with paper and fill with baking beads to blind bake!

Blind baking the crust

Blind baking is an essential step to ensure that the crust bakes up nice and crispy. Nobody wants a soggy crust with their custard tart!!

Bake with baking beads 25 minutes – The first bake is weighed down with baking beads to set the pastry sides so they don’t flop inwards. We bake in a hot oven of 220°C/430·F (200°C fan) which works better when baking from a frozen state.
Filling with baking beads – Remove the fully frozen crust from the freezer. Tear off 2 x 60cm / 2 foot-long sheets of baking paper (parchment paper) then scrunch them up in your hands. This makes it easier to fit inside this taller than usual pastry.
Lay one sheet of paper on top of the other but perpendicular to it (ie. in a “X”) inside the crust shell. Then fill with baking beads or dried beans* right up to 1cm below the rim of the pastry. Gently but firmly press the beads down and outwards to ensure it is pressed into the corners and against the springform pan walls to help ensure the pastry sides set properly without flopping inwards.
No baking beads? Large dried beans work almost as well. They do not conduct heat as well as purpose-made baking beads and they are a little lighter. So the pastry does shrink a little more but it’s not significant. Avoid using rice, lentils or other small dried things that other recipes say are ok to use. Their small size means they pack together too densely, blocking heat from getting through to the inside of the pastry so the sides don’t set properly. (A lesson I learned the hard way!)
Remove baking beads – After 25 minutes, remove the crust from the oven. Grip the paper overhangs and lift, taking the baking beads with the paper. Do this step slowly so you can check to see if the sides start to flop in (eg if your oven runs a bit cool). If they do, leave the baking beads in and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Take care during this step – nobody wants sizzling hot little beads bouncing all over their kitchen floor … sounds terribly dangerous! I pour the beads straight into a metal bowl to cool.

Bake 5 minutes uncovered – Once the baking beads are removed, return crust to oven for a further 5 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes – Remove the crust from the oven. You will see that the surface is dry but the pastry is still a bit undercooked. That’s exactly what we want – it’s partially cooked, ie. Cooked enough so it won’t go soggy once the custard is poured in but undercooked enough so we don’t end up with a burnt, dry pastry crust.
Cool for 10 minutes. Again, this is just an extra crispy-base insurance policy.

Baking the Flan Pâtissier

We are on the home stretch here! So close are we to be able to taste the magic that is Flan Pâtissier!

Fill with custard – Remove the chilled custard from the fridge and whisk to loosen. Then fill the pastry crust. Fill to 1cm / 0.4″ below the rim else it will overflow when it bakes.
Leftover custard? The recipe makes the right amount of custard assuming you had no pastry shrinkage or the sides did not slouch when you blind baked your pastry crust. If yours did shrink a bit – and for most people, I expect that it will – then you may have custard leftover. Ideas to use up: as a general-purpose dolloping custard on anything; make mini custard tarts using puff pastry scraps (20 minute bake at 180°C/350°F); fill ramekins and bake; or simply eat with a spoon!
Smooth custard surface using an offset spatula or spoon.
Egg yolk – Brush the surface gently with egg yolk, taking care not to break the surface. This is how we get that gorgeous, signature bronzing on the surface of the Flan Pâtissier.
Bake 65 minutes, fridge 6 hours – Bake 65 minutes at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan), rotating the tray at 45 minutes. The custard will still be VERY wobbly, borderline watery. Have faith! It will set when refrigerated.
Cool on the counter for 4 to 5 hours, then loosely cover and refrigerate for 6 hours+ in the springform pan. It’s important to fully cool to room temperature before refrigerating or condensation will compromise the crispiness of the puff pastry.

And with that, WE ARE DONE!! Time to devour this custardy masterpiece!!

Phew! I know this was a big knowledge dump. But as I explained earlier, I wanted to provide enough information so even less experienced bakers can feel confident enough to make it.

And honestly? Having made this over 20 times in the last few months, I can say this for sure: The only thing that can really go wrong is that the custard doesn’t set so it gloops everywhere when you cut into it. The only way that can happen is if you mis-measure the custard ingredients, if your oven runs cooler than the temperature dial says (I recommend you use an oven thermometer if you have any doubts) or if you do not refrigerate the cooked Flan Patissier to allow it to set.

Even lamentable pastry work can be salvaged from potential custard leakage issues by plugging holes with leftover pastry!

As for everything else, it’s a walk in the park. OK sure, your pastry shell might look a little more rustic than mine. I certainly had my fair share of more rustic-looking crusts on this journey! But that doesn’t affect flavour or the eating experience at all.

And that, my friends, is just about all I can think of that could possibly go wrong.

So really, don’t let the length of the recipe card daunt you. The detail is there to guide you through this. It might take you longer than you expect. But I promise, it really is not that hard.

And it is so, so worth it! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Video error! Once the empty pastry crust is baked, it just needs to cool for 10 minutes. It does NOT need to go in the fridge for 6 hours. Oops, sorry, I will replace the video shortly. Follow the written recipe please!

Flan Pâtissier (French Custard Tart)

Recipe video above. Also known as Parisian Flan, this traditional French custard tart is the most magnificent custard tart in the world (in my humble opinion!). It's like a giant Portuguese Tart – but better, because there's so much more custard!

The custard is truly incredible – rich, creamy, but not overly sweet. Sets perfectly to cut neat slices but melts in your mouth.

DO NOT BE DAUNTED by the lengthy looking instructions. At its core, it is just a puff pastry crust filled with custard. Details are provided to ensure there's enough information even for less confident bakers.(And PS, it's SUPPOSED to look rustic!)

At its best in the 24 hours after 12 hours refrigeration after finished custard comes out of oven (crispiest base). Keeps 4 – 5 days but pastry starts to lose crispiness (it's still AWESOME though!).

My typical workflow: Make custard and line pan with pastry in evening. Bake in morning, fridge all day, serve that evening. Or bake in early evening, fridge overnight, serve the next day.

Course Sweet Baking

Cuisine French

Keyword custard tart, Flan Patissier, parisian flan

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 25

Refrigeration time 1

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Creme Patissiere:

1 litre / 1 quart milk , full fat
2 vanilla beans , seeds scraped, beans reserved (Note 1)
1 cup caster sugar , separated
120g / 4.2 oz egg yolks (~6 to 7 large eggs, 100 ml, Note 2)
1 large egg (55 – 60g / 2 oz)
7 tbsp (70g) cornflour/cornstarch (scoop and level, Note 3)
50g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter , cut into 1cm cubes (cold)

Pastry:

2 sheets butter puff pastry, FROZEN (25cm / 10" squares, 185g/6oz each) (Note 4)
1 egg yolk , whisked
Butter , for greasing

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Creme Patissiere:

Infuse milk: Place milk, vanilla seeds, used beans and 50g (1/4 cup) sugar in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to just before boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat, place lid on and leave to steep for 10 minutes.
Yolk mixture: Meanwhile, place egg yolks, egg and remaining sugar in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add cornflour and whisk until smooth.
Temper eggs: While whisking the eggs, slowly pour in about half the milk in a thin stream. Whisk until combined.
Thicken custard: Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan then whisk to combine. Place over medium low heat, stirring constantly so the base doesn't catch, until it starts to thicken (you will feel it). It should happen within 3 to 5 minutes. If it gets lumpy, remove off heat, whisk vigorously – will become smooth.
Stir 20 seconds after bubbles appear: When the custard is thickened and hot and you see the first big lazy bubbles appear on the base, whisk constantly on the stove for a further 20 seconds then remove from stove. (To check for bubbles, pause stirring for a few seconds)
Butter: Whisk butter in until fully incorporated.
Strain & cool: Immediately strain into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Discard vanilla bean. Cover with cling wrap touching the surface. Cool on counter (3 hrs+) then refrigerate 12 – 24 hours. (Note 5)

Crust:

Work with pastry as frozen as possible – it's easier. (Note 4)
Cut base and sides: Cut base out using the inside of the pan as a guide on one sheet of puff pastry. Cut three 25 x 5.5cm (2.15 x 10″) wide strips on the other sheet of puff pastry. Place base and sides back in freezer. RESERVE offcuts (for emergency patching).
Line pan: Butter and line the sides of a 20cm/8" springform pan with a 5.5cm / 2.2" strip of baking paper. We are not using the pan base. (Note 6)
Line sides: Place cake pan on a square sheet of baking paper on a plate. (Note 6) Remove cut puff pastry from freezer. Working quickly, when sides have JUST thawed enough to bend, line sides of cake pan with puff pastry, overlapping by 1cm / 0.4", using water to seal – just press down for now (will seal properly later).
Base: Brush base of sides with water. Fit base into cake pan (see video at 2 min 50 sec for technique).
Seal pastry: Use the back of a teaspoon to press base into the corner. Then smear the now-thawing puff pastry to full seal.
Prick base: Prick base 30 times with fork. (I always forget!!)
Freeze: Cover with cling wrap, freeze 4 – 24 hours. (Note 4)

Bake:

Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan) for 30 minutes.
Line & fill with beads: Pick up crust using paper and place on tray (on the paper). Crumple 2 x 60cm / 2 feet long sheets of baking paper (Note 7) then fit into crust arranged in X. Fill with baking beads 1cm / 0.4" below rim (Note 8). Press to push paper into corners.
Blind bake 25 min + 5 min: Bake 25 minutes, then use overhang paper to remove beads carefully (if sides look like they will cave in, return to oven with beads for 5 min). Bake 5 minutes then cool 10 minutes. (Seal any visible cracks with puff pastry scraps)

Assemble Flan Pâtissier:

Turn oven down to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
Fill with custard: Remove Creme Patissiere from fridge. Whisk to loosen, scrape into crust – fill to 1cm/0.4" below rim. (Leftover custard Note 7) Smooth surface, brush custard surface with egg yolk (use it all).
Bake 65 minutes, rotating tray 180° at 45 minutes. It will puff up in the last 15 ninutes like a souffle. Remove from oven – it will still be very wobbly, have faith! It will set when cool!
Golden surface – If the top is not golden like pictured, switch on broiler to caramelise surface. Watch carefully – takes minutes!
Cool on counter for 4 hours (in pan). Transfer to plate (still in pan), cover loosely with cling wrap, then refrigerate 12+ hours.
Serve: Remove from fridge 1 hour prior to serving to bring to room temperature. Cut into slices like cake! The pastry is crispy & flaky. The custard will cut neatly (it will not ooze) but when you bite into it, the custard is beautifully soft and creamy. Traditionally eaten as a hand held bakery treat in France but you can use a plate if you're feeling civilised!
Shelf life: Flan Pâtissier is at its best in the first 24 hours after it is put in the fridge after baking as this is when the pastry is still beautifully crisp. Beyond this the pastry starts to soften which no one has pointed out yet because everyone is besotted by the custard! But I notice.

Notes

KEY TIPS FOR SUCCESS:

Risk of taller-than-usual puff pastry sides caving in before they are set – Take care when removing baking beads to ensure it is set. If sides look like they are flopping, put baking beads back in at bake 5 minutes longer until sides stop flopping in.
Custard doesn’t set – Make sure you measure the cornflour properly, and cook for 20 seconds after big lazy bubbles appear.
Custard leaking – Use puff pastry scraps to seal any visible cracks.
Crispy base – Bake directly on tray without using base of springform pan.
Your pastry isn’t as neat as mine – So what? It’s still gonna be delicious. Besides, this tart is SUPPOSED to look rustic rather than elegant like, say, Lemon Tart.

1. Vanilla beans – Split the beans in half (or cut a slit down the middle) then use a butter knife or teaspoon to scrape the seeds out.

Substitute: 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (ie with little vanilla specks in it), this is what I used in early days of testing for economical reasons. Vanilla extract will work (ie liquid, no specks) but vanilla flavour not as pure. As for imitation vanilla, I don’t think it has a place in this recipe I’m afraid!

2. Egg yolks – 120g / 4.2 oz yolks is usually 6 large eggs weighing 55 – 60g / 2 oz each (600g / 1.2lb for a dozen eggs, usually labelled “large eggs” because it’s an industry standard).

The fairly long bake time for this recipe guarantees the custard will set (assuming you measure cornflour properly!) so don’t get too hung about about 100% accuracy of yolks by weight.

Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection.

3. Cornflour/cornstarch – You do NOT want to be short on the cornflour as the setting of the custard relies on it! Easiest to weigh for accuracy. Make sure the tablespoon is properly filled, packed in and levelled off with the back of a knife.

READERS IN FRANCE – Do not use what you call “cornflour” (ie the yellow powder), use cornstarch (white powder).

4. Puff pastry handling – For this recipe, it is easiest to handle the puff pastry while as stiff as possible (ie frozen), JUST pliable enough to work with. Else it flops/slides/gets sticky. At any point if it thaws too much, just slide it back into the freezer.

CUTTING side strips – Use a long knife, cut straight down and up. Don’t drag knife along pastry as this smears the pastry so you won’t see the lovely layers when baked.

Freezing lined cake pan overnight – This helps ensure sides don’t collapse during blind baking and helps prevent pastry shrinkage. An excellent tip for any tart / quiche pastry blind baking, per advice from a professional Pastry Chef in France.

5. Fridge custard overnight – This improves the flavour of the custard. But if in a hurry, you can continue on once the custard is completely cool.

6. Not using base – Baking the tart directly on a tray without the cake pan base ensures the puff pastry base is beautifully crisp and golden, not soggy at all. Essentially, we’re using the no-base tart ring baking method that professionals use!

Plate – This is just for handling purposes until lined pastry is frozen again, bearing in mind we are not using the cake pan base. Use anything flat.

7. Crumpling the baking paper makes it easier to fit into the taller crust. Also a handy tip for small tart shells!

8. Baking beads – Need to fill quite deep to ensure it holds up the sides as it bakes, else you run the risk of the sides flopping in as it bakes. But not right to top of rim as we want the top of the pastry to bake up with beautiful flaky layers – so pretty!

No baking beads? Use large dried beans instead. Super cheap baking beads!

Dried lentils/rice etc will also work but add 5 minutes to the baking time. Smaller grains = less heat gets through them = longer bake time required to set the base.

9. Leftover Custard (keeps 3 days in fridge) – Volume of custard is such that expert level bakers will virtually use it all because there will be no pastry shrinkage / sides sliding down which leads to smaller pie crust volume to fill.

If you do not use it all, you can either use it as a dolloping custard on anything, eat it with a spoon, fill small ramekins and bake for 20 minutes, or use leftover puff pastry to make mini custard tarts (line muffin in, prick base, bake 18 min at 180C/350F lined with paper and filled with beads, bake 5 min uncovered, cool, fill, brush stop with egg, bake 20 min.

10. Recipe credits – A recipe developed by yours truly over quite a few months with the assistance of:

Jennifer Pogmore, French Pastry Chef extraordinaire based in France who has found herself in the unexpected position as my teacher of all things French pastry.
Chef Jean-Baptiste, RecipeTin Eats culinary collaborator and my “this is the faster, better way to do it” mentor, and his father, for going out and buying Flan Patissier samples to send us photos for inspection!
My wonderful, surprisingly large French Instagram community, for participating in Q&A as I set about determining exactly they thought entailed the “perfect” Flan Patissier!

Life of Dozer

Flan Pat or Lasagna??

Flan Pat. Every. Single. Time.

The post Flan Pâtissier (French Custard Tart) appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Chicken Fricassée (quick French chicken stew)

Nagi — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Chicken Fricassée is a traditional French chicken stew made with browned chicken pieces braised in a creamy white mushroom sauce. A rustic family-style meal that’s easy enough for midweek, it’s a bit like a white sauce version of Coq au Vin – except it’s so much faster to make!

This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!

Chicken Fricassée

Pronounced “fri-ka-say”, this is a terrific recipe to get a cosy stew fix any night of the week without hours of slow cooking. This dish is a traditional French chicken stew made with a creamy white sauce with mushrooms, instead of the more common rich, dark brown sauce like you ordinarily see with stews, such as with Coq au Vin and this baked Chicken Stew.

I’m just going to tell it to you straight: the chicken is lovely (juicy, golden brown, etc etc) … but this dish is all about the creamy white sauce!!!

Chicken browned in butter (it’s French after all!)

The Chicken Fricassee sauce in the making – sauteed mushroom, onion, garlic and herbs.

Ingredients in Chicken Fricassée

Here’s what you need to make Chicken Fricassée.

1. Chicken pieces

This dish is best made with skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces that stay nice and juicy after simmering in the sauce. Mind you, this is a quick stew that only calls for 30 minutes of simmering time. But still, boneless breast or thigh would overcook in this time. Having said that, I’ve included in notes in the recipe for how I would make Chicken Fricassée with breast and boneless thighs, because I know some of you will ask!!

2. Other ingredients in Chicken Fricassée

Here are the other ingredients required for Chicken Fricassée:

Garlic and onion – The foundation upon which many savoury dishes are built, and Chicken Fricassée is no exception!
Bay leaves and thyme – The herb flavourings for the sauce. Fresh is best if you have them, else dried is fine.
Butter – It’s a French dish. Say no more! 😂
Mushrooms – The traditional vegetable included in the sauce. Though really, this is such an adaptable dish that it can be made with any vegetable suitable for braising. Add those that can withstand a 30 minute braising time at the beginning, and faster-cooking vegetables (like green beans and asparagus) towards the end.
White wine – Any white wine that’s not too woody or sweet will work great here. Chardonnay in particular adds really good flavour. Substitute with more low-sodium chicken stock/broth for a non-alcoholic version.
Chicken stock/broth – This dish is extremely tasty made with regular store-bought chicken stock. But it becomes a restaurant-quality treat if you make it with homemade chicken stock! Homemade chicken stock is straightforward to make and really worth it for the added deliciousness. (Bonus: It’s lower sodium than store bought and you get extra nutrients from the bones).
Flour – Used to lightly thicken the sauce.
Cream – This also thickens the sauce as well as making the sauce rich, creamy and decadent!

Using homemade chicken stock elevates any dish to restaurant worthy!

How to make Chicken Fricassée

In a nutshell, Chicken Fricassée is made by browning chicken pieces in butter, then braising them in a creamy mushroom sauce thickened with a little flour. It’s a quick stew so it’s only simmered for 30 minutes on the stove which is all you need for the chicken to cook through.

Brown chicken – First, we sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Then in a large skillet or pot that has a lid, melt the butter over medium-high heat. (If your pot/skillet doesn’t have a lid or you don’t have a lid from another pot that is the same size or larger, don’t stress, there’s options – I outline these in the simmering step.)
Brown the chicken thighs first, placing them in the butter skin side down. Cook them for 4 – 5 minutes until nice and golden, then turn and cook the other side for just 1 minute. Remove the thighs from the skillet to a plate or tray. Now do the drumsticks. For drumsticks, I usually sear 3 sides which gets decent coverage all around – about 2 minutes on each side. Once done, add them to the plate holding the thighs.
There will still be plenty of butter left in the skillet, which has now transformed into browned butter. Which means it’s extra tasty – woo!
Sauté mushrooms – To start the sauce, sauté the onions, mushrooms, thyme and bay leaves for around 5 minutes in the residual butter, adding the garlic towards the end. The mushrooms will change from white to light golden, but won’t go a deep golden brown. There’s no point browning mushrooms well because they will lose the colour when braised.
Then add the flour and cook it for 1 minute to cook out the raw floury taste.
Add stock and wine – Then add the wine and chicken stock. Stir well, scraping the base of the pot to dissolve all the golden bits stuck on the base of the pot into the sauce. This stuff is called “fond” and it’s concentrated flavours that makes the sauce even tastier!
Return chicken to pan – Return the chicken to the pot, skin side up. It will mostly be submerged, and that’s exactly what we want. The braising liquid will keep the chicken nice and juicy, while the chicken will absorb the tasty sauce flavour!

Simmer covered 10 minutes – Once the chicken is in the sauce, bring the liquid back up to a simmer. Then adjust the heat so it’s bubbling constantly but not boiling rapidly – see video to see what this looks like. On my stove, it’s medium heat.
Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
Uncovered 20 minutes – Remove the lid then simmer for a further 20 minutes. In this step, the sauce will reduce and thicken into a thin gravy consistency.
“When is the chicken cooked?” – By this time, the chicken will be cooked. 30 minutes mightn’t sound like long for a stew, but that’s all you need because the chicken is cooked submerged in a very hot liquid. It will be completely cooked and quite tender, though not at the “fall-apart-at-a-touch” stage which is intentional.
Now make the sauce creamy … – Remove chicken from the sauce to a plate. Add the cream, stir, then bring the sauce back up to a simmer.
Garnish and serve! Once the sauce comes back up to a simmer, return the chicken to the sauce. There’s no need to simmer the sauce after the cream is added.
Garnish with a good amount of parsley, and it’s ready to serve!

Matters of serving and eating!

How to serve Chicken Fricassée

Chicken Fricassée can be served directly in individual servings. Otherwise, serve it family-style by placing either the cooking vessel on the table or transfer the Chicken Fricassée to a large serving bowl so people can help themselves.

Starchy sides

As for what to serve with Chicken Fricassée, any sauce this good demands a starchy partner! Mashed potato is traditional (Cauliflower Mash for those going low-carb) though I was interested to learn that rice is not unheard of either.

Short pastas like macaroni, penne and ziti would also be ideal. Basically anything that let’s you enjoy every drop of that gorgeous creamy mushroom sauce!!

Side salad

We’re a little light on the vegetables in Chicken Fricassée! So round off your meal with a nice side of greens. Try a big bowl of roasted vegetables, Garlic Sautéed Spinach, a fresh French Bistro Salad, Roasted Asparagus or a big bowl of leafy greens tossed with a French Vinaigrette.

If you try this Chicken Fricassée, share below in the comments what you served it with. People want to know! 😊 – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!

Chicken Fricassée (French creamy chicken stew)

Recipe video above. A traditional French dish, this is essentially a quick chicken stew with a creamy white mushroom sauce. It's a bit like a white sauce version of the famous French Coq au Vin – but it's much faster to make!

This is a wonderful rustic family meal that's quick enough for midweek, or to elevate to restaurant level by using homemade chicken stock.

Course Main, Main Course

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Servings – 6 people

Calories 792cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Chicken

4 chicken drumsticks (~150g/5oz each, Note 1)
4 chicken thighs , skin-on and bone-in (~250g/8oz each, Note 1)
1 tsp salt (cooking / kosher salt)
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 tbsp / 60g unsalted butter

Stew ingredients

300g / 10oz white mushrooms , halved if small, or cut in 4 to 6 if large
2 medium brown onions , sliced 0.6cm (1/2in) wide
2 garlic cloves , finely minced
1 bay leaf , fresh (sub dried)
3 thyme sprigs (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
3 tbsp flour , plain / all-purpose
1/2 cup white wine , preferably chardonnay (Note 2)
3 cups chicken stock , low sodium (preferably homemade!)
1/4 tsp salt (cooking / kosher salt)
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp parsley , chopped
2/3 cup thickened/heavy cream

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Season chicken: Pat chicken dry with paper towels then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Brown thighs: Melt butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet or heavy based pot with a lid. Add chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn and cook the other side for 1 minute then remove to a plate.
Brown drumsticks: Then brown the drumsticks, as best you can. I do 3 sides, about 2 minutes each. Then remove from skillet.
Sauté mushrooms and onion: Add mushrooms, onion, bay leave and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes until mushroom is lightly golden – they won't go deep golden brown.
Garlic and flour: Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add flour and cook for 1 minute.
Wine and chicken stock: Add wine and chicken stock. Stir, scraping the base of the pot to dissolve the brown residue stuck to the pan ("fond") into the sauce.
Return chicken to sauce: Return chicken back into the sauce with the skin side up.
Simmer covered 10 minutes: Once it comes to a simmer, adjust heat so it's bubbling constantly but not rapidly (see video) – medium-low on my stove. Cover with lid and simmer 10 minutes.
Uncover 20 minutes: Remove lid and let it simmer for a further 20 minutes. Chicken will be cooked – internal temperature 75°C/167°F or slightly higher.
Creamy sauce: Remove chicken to a plate. Add cream and stir. Once it comes up to a simmer, taste sauce (I know, big ask!), and add more salt if desired..
Serve! Return chicken into the sauce then remove from the stove. Sprinkle with parsley and serve! Traditionally served over mashed potato or rice. Also ideal with short pasta like penne, ziti or macaroni.

Notes

1. Chicken – Needs to be skin on, bone in pieces so they don’t overcook and dry out. If you are dead set on making this with boneless breast, brown it per recipe, simmer sauce with lid off for 15 minutes (to reduce), then add breast and simmer with lid on for 6 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 65°C/149°F. For boneless thigh, do the same except the internal temperature should be 75°C/167°F.

2. Wine – Any dry white wine will work great here, though chardonnay is particularly good because it adds good flavour. Don’t use anything too sweet or too woody.

Non alcoholic substitute: Replace with more chicken stock.

3. Recipe source – Another winning Gallic classic created with the help of French chef Jean-Baptiste Alexandré!

Nutrition

Life of Dozer

Ordinarily I hose him down with the garden hose after his beach session. But it was bitterly cold on this particular morning, so I took pity on him. #sucker (that’s me I’m referring to!).

The post Chicken Fricassée (quick French chicken stew) appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Coq au Vin

Nagi — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 16:00:00 +0000

Coq au Vin is the well-known French chicken stew where pieces of meat are braised in a luscious, glossy red wine sauce with bacon, mushroom and onions. Like Beef Bourguignon, the beauty of this dish lies in its simplicity. There are remarkably few ingredients and it’s a simple process, but the results are fit for a king – or queen!

Coq au Vin – French chicken stew

Chicken stews are delightful and criminally underrated in my book. Too often they play second fiddle to the divas of the stew world like lamb shanks, braised short ribs and curries. Maybe it’s because chicken as a meat is considered somewhat “common”? As a result, delicious and hardworking dishes like this Everyday Chicken Stew (with crispy skin!) or this weeknight Fast Chicken Stew just don’t get their share of the love they deserve.

If there’s any dish that can rise above the image problem that most chicken stews suffer though, it’s got to be Coq au Vin. This French (naturally!) classic is all about succulent bone-in chicken pieces braised in a glossy, alluringly dark and rich red wine sauce. The sauce’s deeply savoury flavour perfumed with herbs and bacon is complex and seems to just linger forever. If I had to call it (and regular readers know I will!), I reckon Coq au Vin is hands down the greatest and certainly the most luxurious chicken stew in the world!

Yet there’s actually less ingredients than any of the stews mentioned earlier. The recipe is surprisingly straightforward. Making a great Coq au Vin instead is all about small additional steps and details that add up little by little to weave the magic into this magnificent stew. Trust me: Take the time to make this properly and I promise you’ll never look at chicken stew the same way again!

What you need to make Coq au Vin

1. Chicken and red wine marinade

Here’s what you need to marinate the chicken. The red wine is first used for marinating the meat and later reduced on the stove to make the sauce.

Chicken pieces – Coq au Vin literally means “rooster in wine”. Once upon a time older male chickens may have been the bird of choice for this traditional dish. I don’t know about you, but where I live roosters are hard to come by, so regular chicken it is!
Bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks are the safest for the most tender, juicy results. Cutting up your own whole chicken would also be an option (and more traditional). Keep the chicken breast whole with the skin on and bone in. Marinate and sear per recipe but only put it in the pot for the last 20 minutes in the oven (else it will overcook and dry out)
Red wine – The key flavouring in this dish used to infuse chicken with flavour, and base for the sauce. The finished dish does taste mildly of red wine if served immediately which is exactly how it is supposed to taste. However, if you leave the finished dish overnight in the fridge (highly recommended), the flavour of the stew develops and the wine flavour mellows so you can barely taste it.
Pinot Noir is the traditional wine typically used in Coq au Vin, usually from Burgundy. In France different wine regions showcase their local wines to create variations of chicken-in-wine dishes (sometimes even champagne!).
Really though any red variety will do as long as it’s not too heavy and full-bodied – shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec are all good.
Wine quality – Even though wine is the primary flavouring in this dish, there’s still no need to splurge on expensive wine. The old adage that you should “only cook with wine you’d drink” has largely been consigned to the dustbin of culinary myths thanks to modern wisdom, such as from authorities like the New York Times, who found from tests that “the wonderful wines and the awful ones produced equally tasty food, especially if the wine was cooked for more than a few minutes.”
The braising time and other flavours works wonders to transform even economical wine – just rummage through the discount bins at your local liquor store. The bottle I used was a $15 one, reduced to $6 (Dan Murphy’s!).
Pearl onions are very small onions and are irritatingly hard to find in Australia. The closest are pickling onions which are slightly bigger, so just peel an extra layer or two off to make them the right size – around 2.5cm/1″ in diameter. Soak them for 10/15min in cold water, which will soften the skin and make them easier to peel (use a small knife to assist). You can also just use 2 regular brown or yellow onions, halved then cut into 1cm / 2/5” wedges.
Thyme and bay leaves – Classic French stew-friendly herb aromatics.

Marinating chicken in red wine for Coq au Vin
Searing chicken

2. For the Coq au Vin

In addition to above, here are the other ingredients that go into the Coq au Vin:

Beef stock is the stock of choice for this dish. That might sound strange for a chicken stew, but it’s what gives it the really rich, dark colour and deeper flavour. Cooked out with all the other ingredients it doesn’t taste beefy at all, because you get so much flavour from the chicken juices. Chicken stock will work fine but the sauce colour won’t be as deep, and the flavour will be a little lighter.
Beef stock quality is the key variable here that will set apart a good homemade Coq au Vin from an exceptional restaurant-quality one. Homemade beef stock trumps any store bought. Good quality store-bought from butchers etc. are far better than mass-produced (like Campbell’s here in Australia).
Do not use powdered beef stock. It’s frankly inferior to even the packet liquid stock and has no place here amongst all this effort, I’m afraid!
Bacon – Get slab bacon from your butcher if you can, so you can cut it yourself into big, chunky lardons (batons). Biting into chunks of meaty bacon lardons as opposed to scrappy small shreds is part of what makes a great Coq au Vin so appealing!
If you can’t find slab bacon, try speck (which in Australia is smoked pork belly chunks). Failing that, normal bacon slices works just fine too from a flavour perspective but you’ll have more bacon “bits” in the sauce which is not quite as handsome!

Mushrooms – Just your everyday button mushrooms. Cut large ones into quarters, medium ones in half.
Swiss brown /cremini are also fine. White is more traditional and looks nicer because the paler colour stands out more against the dark brown sauce.
Garlic – For flavouring (it’s rare to see a savoury dish around here without it!).
Tomato paste – For a touch of brightness, to help thicken the sauce, flavour and colour.
Flour – This is what thickens the Coq au Vin sauce.

How to make Coq au Vin

For the most delicious and authentic Coq au Vin that truly stacks up to the best bistro and restaurant versions in France:

Rest the finished dish overnight to allow the flavours to develop further; and
Use homemade rather than store-bought beef stock.

1. Marinate chicken and sear

Don’t skip the overnight marination. This infuses the chicken with flavour all the way through to the bone.

Marinate chicken – Using a glass or ceramic bowl, marinate the chicken overnight in the red wine, onion and herbs. 12 hours is the minimum recommended, up to 24 hours. Beyond this is still fine but doesn’t really add anything more, I’ve found.
This step infuses the chicken with flavour and is an essential part of what makes Coq au Vin so great. So don’t skip it!
Reduce wine – Strain the red wine into a pot and reduce by half on the stove. This intensifies the flavour, cooks out most of the alcohol and reduces the amount of liquid down to the right amount so you end up with a lovely thickened stew sauce by the time the chicken is cooked instead of a dilute, watery soup.
Dry chicken – Separate the onion and herbs from the chicken (because we add them into the stew at different times). Place the chicken in a paper towel-lined tray, then user paper towels to pat the chicken dry. This ensures that the chicken browns nicely. Wet chicken just won’t get a nice golden crust.
Sear chicken – Using a large heavy based pot 26cm / 10.5″ or larger), heat oil over medium high heat. Sear the chicken thighs first, starting with the skin side down, until they become a deep, dark golden colour. It will be darker than usual because the chicken is stained by the red wine. Flip and repeat on the other side.
In this step, we are just searing the outside of the chicken for flavour. The inside will still be raw which is fine since we will cook it through when we braise it.
Once the thighs are browned, remove and add the drumsticks. Because of the shape of the drumsticks, it’s harder to brown them evenly. Just rotate them to do the best you can – I normally sear 3 or 4 sides, about 5 minutes in total.

2. Make the Coq au Vin stew

While Coq au Vin produces magnificently deep and rounded flavours that only slow-cooking can, it actually only calls for 45 minutes of braising because chicken cooks considerably faster than, say, beef. In contrast, Beef Bourguignon takes a good 2 1/2 hours!

Sautéing each of the ingredients separately is key for developing some nice golden colour thus flavour. Don’t try to shortcut it but throwing them all in at the same time – they will steam up and go watery instead of becoming golden!

An enamelled cast iron pot similar to that shown above (26cm / 10.5″) or a Dutch oven is the best pot for this job. It retains tons of heat and you’re also less likely to have problems with burnt bits caking your pot base.

Cook bacon – Cook the bacon lardons until golden. In this step, quite a bit of fat will be released by the bacon which we will use to sauté subsequent ingredients. Once the bacon is done, add it to the tray with the chicken.
Sauté mushrooms – Next, cook the mushrooms in the bacon fat, still on medium-high heat. Again, just cook them until you get blush of golden on the surface because they will finish cooking in the stew. When the mushrooms are done, remove them and add to the chicken pile.
What to do if your pot base is blackening! If at any stage the base of the pot starts to get a thick layer of black and burnt “stuff” on it (tends to happen if you skimped on the fat!), remove it from the heat and use a flat paddle wooden spoon to scrape the layer off as best you can. If you don’t, that burnt layer will end up dissolving in your stew and make it bitter.
Onions – Now, in go the onions! Just stir regularly until you get nice golden patches on them. We do onions last because they hold up best when adding in the tomato paste and flour in the next steps.
Tomato paste and flour – Next, add butter and let it melt. Add garlic and cook it for 1 minute until the garlic is golden and it smells ridiculously good.
Then add the tomato paste and cook it for 2 minutes. This mellows the sourness of tomato paste as well as bringing out and concentrating the flavour.
Now add the flour and cook it for a further 2 minutes. We want to cook out the raw flavour of the flour so there won’t be even the smallest hint of flouriness in the final sauce. The mixture will be a bit pasty or sometimes, if you have less oil, possibly a bit crumbly. That’s ok – what’s important here is using the 7 tablespoons of flour specified in the recipe as this is what is required to ensure the sauce thickens to the right consistency by the time the chicken is cooked.

Add liquids – While stirring, slowly pour in the beef stock. Incorporating the stock little by little helps the flour dissolve lump-free into the liquids. But don’t worry if you do (or think you do!) have small lumps, they will easily dissolve during the braising time.
Once the beef stock is added, keep stirring to completely dissolve the flour into the liquid. Then mix in the reduced red wine.
Add chicken and everything else – Add the chicken, cooked mushrooms, bacon, and reserved bay leaf and thyme (from marinating the chicken) to the pot. Give it a good stir, then allow it to come to a simmer.
Oven 45 minutes – Cover with a lid then transfer it to a 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan) oven for 45 minutes.
Why oven instead of simmering on the stove? It’s just easier and lower maintenance. For example there’s no need to stir to ensure the base doesn’t catch, which is harder to do when you’ve got big pieces of chicken in a pot that’s relatively full!
The oven temperature may seem a little high to you for a slow-cooked recipe. Actually though this temperature is the equivalent of low heat on a small stove burner so the stew is barely bubbling inside the pot.
Can I use a slow cooker? This can work but you’ll need to reduce on the stove at the end to thicken the sauce. Slow-cook for 6 hours on low. Transfer to pot then simmer (no lid) for 15 – 20 minutes until sauce reduces. I really think it’s just easier to use the oven, to be honest!
Sauce adjustments – Once the Coq au Vin comes out of the oven, the sauce should have reduced slightly and thickened into a thinnish gravy. If it’s still very thin, or too thin for your liking, just pop it on a low stove without the lid until it thickens to your taste. Things like the heat retention of your pot and oven strength will affect exactly how much the sauce reduces and thickens.
Pro tip: Keep the sauce slightly thinner than you would like to see it once served. This is because roux–thickened sauces like this will thicken further as they cool slightly and once served.
Adjust salt – Also, taste the sauce and add more salt if needed. I start with what I think is a conservative amount of salt because the saltiness of the finished dish will be affected by the saltiness of the bacon used – something I cannot control!

What to serve with Coq au Vin

Starchy vehicles to soak up that sauce!

While mashed potato is the clear and obvious starchy vehicle of choice here for scooping up all that luscious sauce, the other popular side in France is (surprisingly!) tagliatelle pasta. This is a flat noodle pasta that is 6mm / 0.236″ wide (to be accurate! 😉). Fresh is best, but dried is still perfectly good.

And while perhaps not traditional, I can confirm that a hunk of warm homemade brioche is a dreamy way to mop your bowl clean. Emphasis on DREAMY!!!

Side salad for Coq au Vin

Serve Coq au Vin with a nice crisp green salad lightly dressed with French Dressing or a classic French Bistro Salad. Made with leafy greens, a handful of herbs, and a pretty pink tangles of pickled eschalots this is a refreshing, lemon vinaigrette-dressed salad served in bistros all over France with the exact intended purpose of teaming up with rich mains like Coq au Vin.

Here are a few more side salad options that I think will go well with a hearty main like Coq au Vin:

French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette)

French Bistro Salad

The Garden Salad

Spring Salad!

Pomegranate Salad & Holiday Salad Marathon!

Bitter Leaf and Orange Salad

Everyday Salad Dressing

All Vegetable & Salad Sides

French Desserts to finish!

Have you really had a proper French dinner if you don’t have dessert?? NO! 😂 Some suggestions:

Crème Brûlée (French vanilla custard)

It’s always hard to choose favourites, but for Coq au Vin, these are my top picks:

Creme Brûlée – A classic French bistro favourite that’s bafflingly simple to make at home.
Lemon Tart (Tarte au Citron) – My dessert of choice for its zesty and fresh flavour which makes for a perfect palette cleanser after a rather rich main.
Madeleines – This was dessert for we made for the last French dinner party I hosted. For something bite-size and a little different, freshly made Madeleines are a delightful way to finish off a meal. Make the batter beforehand and leave it in the fridge. It takes 90 seconds to fill the baking pan, and 10 minutes to bake. Pile on a plate and watch as they disappear in seconds!

Enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Coq au Vin

Recipe video above. Coq au Vin is the well known French stew where chicken pieces are braised in a luscious, glossy red wine sauce with bacon, mushroom and onions.

Like Beef Bourguignon, the beauty of this dish lies in its simplicity: remarkably few ingredients and simple process with results fit for a king – or queen!

For the best results, start this 2 days before serving: 12 – 24 hour marinade for the chicken (essential), then rest the finished stew overnight to let the flavours develop even further (recommended but not essential).

Recipe source: Another classic French recipe brought to you via Chef Jean-Baptiste Alexandre, our culinary collaborator for all things French. Because I like to do traditional recipes properly!

Course Dinner

Cuisine French

Keyword coq au vin, french chicken stew, red wine stew

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 30

Total Time 1 45

Servings – 5

Calories 977cal

Author Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Ingredients

Red Wine Chicken Marinade:

4 chicken thighs , bone-in, skin on (~220g / 7 oz each) (Note 1)
4 chicken drumsticks (Note 1)
16 pearl onions or picking onions (Note 2)
1 bay leaf , fresh (dry also ok)
3 thyme sprigs (sub 1 tsp dried thyme)
750 ml / 3 cups pinot noir red wine , or other dry red wine (Note 3)

Browning Chicken:

3 – 4 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola oil)
3/4 tsp salt (cooking/kosher salt, or 1/2 tsp table salt)
1/2 tsp pepper

Coq au Vin Stew:

400g / 14oz white mushrooms , halved (quartered if large) (Note 4)
150g / 5oz bacon piece , (speck) cut into 1 x 2.5cm / 0.4 x 1″ batons (Note 5)
60g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves , finely minced (with knife)
2 tbsp tomato paste
7 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose
750 ml / 3 cups beef stock , low sodium, preferably homemade (Note 6)
1/4 tsp salt (cooking/kosher salt, or 1/8 tsp table salt) (Note 7)
1/4 tsp black pepper

Garnish and serving:

2 tbsp parsley , chopped
Mashed potato (or tagliatelle)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Marinate chicken:

Marinate chicken: Place the Chicken Marinade ingredients in a large glass or ceramic bowl or dish. Marinate overnight in the fridge (minimum 12 hours, maximum 24 hours).
Strain wine into a bowl. Reserve herbs and wine. Separate the chicken and onion.
Dry chicken: Spread chicken out on a try lined with paper towels, then pat dry with paper towels.
Reduce wine: Pour red wine into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Simmer vigorously, skimming off any impurities that rise to the surface, until reduced by half. Set aside.

Brown chicken and vegetables:

Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).
Season chicken: Sprinkle chicken with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
Brown chicken: Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large, heavy-based, oven-proof pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs skin side down and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until nicely browned (it will be darker than usual because of the red wine). Flip thighs and cook the other side for another minute to kiss it with a little colour. Remove to a tray. Pull at skin of drumsticks to cover flesh as best as possible, then brown (I do 3 to 4 sides, ~5 minutes in total). Remove and set aside.
Fry bacon: Remove any loose black burnt bits. Add a bit of extra oil if needed, then cook bacon for 3 minutes until golden. Add to tray with chicken.
Sauté mushrooms: Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, or until golden. Remove into a separate bowl.
Sauté onion: Add a bit of extra oil if needed, then cook onions for 5 minutes or until there are nice golden patches.
Butter and flour: Add butter into pot. Once melted, add garlic and cook for a further 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.
Add wine and stock: While stirring, slowly pour in beef stock – this helps the flour dissolve lump-free into the stock. Then add the reduced wine and mix until flour mixture is dissolved and mostly lump-free. (Note 8)
Add everything back in: Add chicken, bacon, mushroom, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper into the pot, then stir.

SLOW-COOK:

Oven 45 minutes: Bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven for 45 minutes. Chicken will be very tender – but not "falling apart". (Note 9)
Adjust salt: Remove from oven, taste sauce and add salt if needed.
Leave overnight (recommended, Note 11): If time permits, leave the stew overnight before serving because as with all stews, it gets better with time! Reheat gently on a low stove in a covered pot, ensuring that chicken is fully heated through. Add water if needed to loosen sauce.
Serve over mashed potato or tagliatelle, sprinkled with fresh parsley! For the ultimate experience, mop the plate clean with homemade brioche (surprisingly straight forward to make). See in post for side salad and dessert options.

Notes

1. Chicken pieces – Bone in, skin on pieces are best for the most tender, juicy results. Cutting up your own whole chicken would also be ideal. Keep the chicken breast whole with the skin on and bone in. Marinade and sear per recipe but only put it in the pot for the last 20 minutes in the oven (else it will overcook and dry out).

2. Pearl onions are very small onions and are irritatingly hard to find in Australia. The closest are pickling onions which are slightly bigger, so just peel an extra layer or two off to make them the right size – around 2.5cm/1″ in diameter. Soak them for 10/15min in cold water, it will soften the skin and make them easier to peel (use a small knife to assist).

You can also just use 2 brown or yellow onions, halved then cut into 1cm / 2/5” wedges.

3. Pinot Noir is the traditional wine typically used in Coq au Vin, though you’ll different wine regions showcase their local wines in this dish (sometimes even champagne!).

Wine quality – Even though wine is the primary flavouring in this dish, there’s still no need to splurge on expensive wine. This is a myth of years gone by supported by reputable food authorities including the New York Times. (“the wonderful wines and the awful ones produced equally tasty food, especially if the wine was cooked for more than a few minutes.”) The braising time and other flavours works wonders to transform even value wine – just rummage through the discount bins at your local liquor store. The bottle I used was a $15 one reduced to $6 (Dan Murphy’s!).

Cooking out alcohol – While the alcohol cooks out of the sauce due to the long cooking time, I am unsure whether (or how much) might be captured in the flesh of the chicken which is marinated in the red wine. Readers should use their judgement when deciding whether to serve this to children.

4. Mushrooms – Swiss brown /cremini are also fine. White is more traditional and looks nicer because it stands out more against the dark brown sauce.

5. Bacon – Using a block means you can cut into chunky batons which looks nicer in the finished dish. Using bacon slices is a substitute that works perfectly fine from a flavour perspective but you end up with more pieces in the sauce so it looks like there’s more “bits” in it (very clunky explanation attempt there!!).

Bacon is key for sauce seasoning, so don’t skip it!

6. Beef stock is used in this dish which gives it the rich dark brown colour and deeper flavour. Doesn’t taste beefy because you get so much flavour from the chicken juices. Chicken stock will work fine but the sauce colour won’t be as deep, and flavour a little lighter.

Beef stock quality is the key variable here that will set apart a good homemade Coq au Vin from an exceptional restaurant-quality one. Homemade beef stock trumps any store bought. Good quality store-bought from butchers etc. are far better than mass-produced (like Campbell’s here in Australia).

Do not use powdered beef stock. It’s frankly inferior to even the packet liquid stock and has no place here amongst all this effort, I’m afraid!

7. Salt – This dish gets plenty of salt from the bacon, so you don’t need to add much.

8. Flour lumps – Don’t fret if you have some lumps! They will dissolve during the slow cooking time 🙂

9. Slow cook method – Oven is best because it’s entirely hands off, no need to stir to ensure base doesn’t catch (it’s also kind of hard with big chicken pieces in pot). But it can also be done on a low stove, lid on, stirring every now and then.

Slow cooker: This can work but you’ll need to reduce on the stove at the end to thicken sauce. Slow-cook for 6 hours on low, transfer to pot then simmer (no lid) for 15 – 20 minutes until sauce reduces. I really think it’s just easier to use the oven!

10. How tender chicken should be – Takes 45 minutes to cook through fully and be tender but not “falling off the bone” which is an unusual preparation for chicken because the meat is naturally more tender than tough slow cooking cuts like chuck beef (used for Bourguignon), lamb shanks, beef ribs etc.

11. Leaving stew overnight – As with any stew, but particularly dishes like Coq au Vin and Beef Bourguignon where the sauce is made with a good amount of wine, it gets better if you leave the finished stew overnight because the flavours develop more and any residual wine flavour mellows out. Having said that, this is stellar freshly cooked as well!

Nutrition

Originally published September 2016, a recipe adapted from a cookbook by a celebrity chef. Coq au Vin was republished in September 2020 using a recipe taught to me by Chef Jean-Baptiste Alexandre, culinary contributor of all things French. His recipe is much (much!) better!

Life of Dozer

Yes Dozer. I made this ENTIRE cake for YOU…… not! 😂

PS It’s called a Fraisier which is a French strawberry cake which is filled with a custard buttercream called Mousseline cream. It’s work in progress!

And from the original publication date in September 2016:

Can someone remind me why I didn’t get a lap dog? Once, he spilled a whole bowl of meatballs when he lifted his head from under this very same table.

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