I made French Coq au Vin, but I did it the super quick way…not the traditional way which can take up to four hours. I know this is probably all wrong in so many ways and the French are most likely screaming at me right about now. But hear me out, I am not a trained chef and most of the time I am totally winging it. And since I am totally winging it, this allows me to be a little more creative….or ok, lazy. So really, I just take a lot of short cuts. Well whatever, all I know is it’s a really good meal and it’s made pretty quickly and easily – and I love it.
Now in full disclosure here, the Coq au Vin (which I most definitely am not pronouncing right by the way) is the dish that gets made in one pot. I was not smart enough to think of a way to also make the mashers in the same pot. I am kind of thinking that can’t be done, but then again you never know, I’ll leave that to the master chefs. Here is the deal with this fancy, but not so fancy dinner. It happened all because it snowed. You see, the snow does magical, and apparently delicious things this time of year.
I have to say that I was pretty excited for all the snow we got, and are supposed to continue to get throughout the rest of the week. It’s just what I crave this time of year. Trust me, come late January I will be so over it, but right now I am loving it and loving the foods it inspires me to make. I was having a pretty hard time deciding between recipes the other day. I was doing the whole back and forth, back and forth, “oh, but I sort of already made something similar to this last month” thing. It’s kind of the worst when this happens because I just get straight up annoyed with myself that I cannot think up anything creative. And that I feel like I am wasting time practically arguing with myself in my head about what I should make. I know it is completely insane, but as you all know, I have issues with making decisions. Meaning I can’t make them.
When I can’t decide on recipes, I do the stupidest thing. I go in search of new recipe inspiration. I know, like why would I do that if I already have recipes ideas to choose from? It’s most likely because I am not crazy exited about the ideas I have written down in my notebook and I feel like I need a new fresh idea. It’s complete craziness, but it is how I work. Plus, I really like to be excited about each and every recipe I do. So then I stumbled upon a whole bunch of Coq au Vin recipes and thought to myself “oh my gosh, that is perfect for the snowy weather”. The only thing was, I didn’t have four hours, so I just took a few shot cuts, used a lot wine, made some quick mashers and it all just came together. In perfect time too. With the sun setting so freaking early now, it means I actually have to get my stuff together by like four, and if you know me, this is nearly impossible and NO FUN. But somehow I have been managing. I think it may just be luck…just hoping it does not run out anytime soon. The lucky pot of gold is endless, right?
This dish has classic French flavors, wine, mushrooms, garlic and the best painless mashed potatoes to soak up all the sauce – which by the way is so good. Don’t be freaked out by the fancy name, this meal is totally laid back with simple mellow flavors that even picky eaters will love. Although, I do think that the only reason I got my brothers to try this was because of the mashers. They love mashed potatoes, especially mashed potatoes along with a saucy-gravy like dish. The only reason they were hesitant to try the chicken was because of the veggies in the sauce, but they just slid those off to the side and totally loved the dish. The rest of us normal eaters ate our veggies. Typical.
The Coq au Vin (which if you are wondering is just chicken in a red wine mushroom sauce) honestly takes a little over thirty minutes, maybe more or less depending on how slow or quick you are working. Adding the mashed potatoes added on the time, but I mean, how could brown butter mashed potatoes not be worth it? They are. Even if they require another dish to clean (sorry!). And really, every saucy dish like this SHOULD require creamy, buttery mashers. There really is no other way in my mind.
I know that everyone is in “Thanksgiving foods only” mode, but hey, don’t we still have to eat between now and the 27th? Pretty sure we do, and this meal is so cozy and delicious! Surely this One-Pot 45 Minute Coq au Vin will keep you satisfied until the big feast.
Now let’s eat!
