Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Home Cooking, girlfriends edition...

 A couple of weeks ago my friend Dami of DuduNorth asked me to participate in a project of hers, if you have never visited Dudunorth.com, she showcases Africans in North America making strides in what they are doing and promoting Africa's positively,Its an amazing avenue to see what other people are up to and Dudunorth finds creative ways to display all of this.



The project involved her coming in to watch me cook and experiencing what my thought process usually is and how i go about executing my meal preps, she planned to do this with another of my good friend, Lohi of LohisCreations so we decided to merge the day as one and have a go at it. It was a blast, we went grocery shopping, came back home and cooked while drinking wine and gisting, you know when girlfriends gather its plenty story, half the time was spent laughing while trying to concentrate on cooking, to read about the entire experience and see how she scored the process read her post here

For the meal i decided to make Coq au Vin (chicken in wine) and mashed potatoes, to save time i had made my meat stock earlier and so it was just a matter of browning the chicken and making the sauce easy.
I used to really hate mashed potatoes, most restaurants never get it right, its never light and velvety, always having lumps in it, earlier this year while trying my hands at making shepherds pie i discovered the most amazing mashed potato recipe and i have never looked back.
Here is the recipe for my simple coq au vin

Ingredients(serves 3)
3 Chicken legs, split into thighs and drumsticks (bone in)
4 cups of red wine ( i used a Merlot, Shiraz might be better)
1 cups of chicken stock ( i made mine at home, so it was well seasoned)
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of butter
4 bacon slices( chopped)
1 small onion diced finely
2 small carrots diced
1 leek bunch(use only the white part, chopped)
2 garlic cloves
Fresh thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Salt
Freshly Ground pepper

  1. Season the chicken with salt, fresh thyme and rosemary, black pepper and leave to marinate for at least 10 minutes
    Meanwhile, pour wine into a sauce pan over high heat and let simmer until it reduces by about half
  2. In a different pot, over medium-high heat, pour in olive oil and butter, brown chicken pieces thoroughly on both sides, then set them aside on a plate
    In the same pot, saute onions and garlic with the bacon, until they are soft, then add in the carrots and leeks, cook until they soften for about 5 minutes. 
  3. Return chicken to the pot with the chicken stock, then add in the reduced wine and leave to simmer until the chicken cooks through 
  4. I did not have to add any extra seasoning because my stock was tasty, make sure you taste yours and adjust the seasoning accordingly


Ingredients(serves at least 4)
3 russet potatoes
1/4 cup of half and half
2 ounces unsalted butter
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Peel the potatoes and dice into another 6 each, place in a pot and cover with cold water, boil over high heat until the potatoes are cooked through and a fork can easily go in without resistance, while potatoes are boiling, put milk and butter in a small bowl and warm for a few minutes in a microwave until the butter melts. Once potatoes are cooked, work quickly, while potatoes are still hot, mash with a fork or a potato masher, add in the melted butter and cream and whisk for about 2 minutes with a hand blender for a smooth velvety consistency, add in salt and black pepper and whisk again for a few seconds
Serve immediately

2 comments:

JanylBenyl said...

I used to have the same problem with mashed potatoes made in restaurants, but then I thought I was prolly a perfectionist :)
I liked this recipe. I'll definitely try it out

AliceDCL said...

hey :) thanks for stopping by, its a good recipe, hope you enjoy it

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