Balthazar's Coq au Vin

It might seem bizarre turning to an American cookbook for a classic French recipe but this version from the Balthazar Cookbook is hard to beat.

Though we might be inclined to use a tender young chicken, Coq au Vin was originally made by braising the meat from a sinewy old rooster in cheap red wine for a long period of time.

Serves 4

4 large stewing hen legs
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1cm dice
1 large carrot, cut into 1cm dice
2 celery stalks, cut into medium dice
1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
1 bottle of red wine*
1 bouquet garni
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons plain flour
750ml veal stock (for which there is a recipe in the book) or homemade chicken stock
250g pearl onions, peeled
225g smoked streaky bacon in one piece, diced
450g small button mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a large bowl, combine the legs, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, wine and bouquet garni. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.

Strain the legs and the vegetables from the marinade, reserving the liquid and separating the chicken and vegetables. Season the legs with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole. When it begins to smoke, add the legs, in batches if necessary, being sure not to crowd the pan. Brown evenly and deeply on all sides, about 8 minutes per side. Set the finished legs to the side and discard the oil; replenish it between batches.

When finished browning the legs, reduce the heat to medium and add the reserved vegetables to the pot. Cook until they soften and begin to brown, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the flour, stirring again for about 2 minutes. Add the reserved wine marinade and, as it bubbles up, use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot and incorporate any flavourful bits into the broth. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 20 to 25 minutes, then add the stock. As it reaches the boil, reduce the heat to low and maintain a slow and gentle simmer for 1 hour, at which point the meat should be meltingly tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients: blanch the pearl onions in boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside. Cook the bacon in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until brown, about 10 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. Add the mushrooms to the pan and the now very hot rendered bacon fat, cook until brown, about 5 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. Add the blanched pearl onions to the pan, sauting until they too are brown, about 5 minutes.

Remove the legs from the braising liquid and strain the contents of the pot, reserving the liquid and discarding the vegetables. Bring to a strong simmer and skim the surface of the sauce as it bubbles, removing any visible fat. When the sauce has reduced by half, return the legs to the pot along with the bacon, onions and mushrooms and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Just prior to serving, add the chopped parsley.

Serve with French-style pomme purée (creamy mashed potato)

From The Balthazar Cookbook by Keith McNally, Riad Nasr & Lee Hanson, published in the UK by Absolute Press, price £25.

What to drink*:
The tradition with this types of recipe is to drink a slightly better version of the wine you've used to cook it - a Nuits-St-Georges when you've used a basic burgundy for example but a less well-known appellation like Aloxe-Corton or Fixin would be less costly and rather more interesting. Or you could perfectly well use an inexpensive southern French red

Zarzuela

A robust Spanish fish stew from Stevie Parle's fabulous new Dock Kitchen Cookbook. Stevie is one of the best -travelled and most original chefs in London with a well-honed magpie tendency of picking up ingredients and techniques from every country he visits. He also writes a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph.

Catalonian fish stew with mussels (zarzuela)

Serves 6

This Catalonian recipe first caught my eye because of its extraordinary name. A beautiful saffron-laced fish stew, it is baked in the oven with a picada of almonds, garlic, saffron and parsley. Picada is a useful tool, a way to add punch, usually with raw garlic, sometimes paprika or almonds.

Zarzuela is also the name of an operetta or a variety show in Spain; I imagine the name comes from the many kinds of fish in the stew.

500g monkfish tail

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

½ small heart of celery, roughly chopped

olive oil

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

1 tsp paprika piccante

400g can of whole plum tomatoes, washed of

their juice

200ml white wine

50g coarse breadcrumbs

2 garlic cloves, green sprouts removed

sea salt

a few sprigs of parsley

pinch of saffron

50g blanched almonds (preferably Spanish)

1 red mullet, filleted

400g wild bass fillet, cut into 4 pieces

200g small, clean rope-grown mussels

If it hasn’t already been done by your fishmonger, pull the skin from the monkfish: you should be able to do this with your hands and the occasional nick with a sharpknife to help you on your way. Cut the fish through the central bone into four pieces.

Fry the onion and celery in a heavy-based pan in olive oil with the bay leaves, thyme and paprika. After about 10 minutes, once the vegetables are soft, add the tomatoes, increase the heat and add the white wine. Simmer for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Meanwhile, make the picada. Fry the breadcrumbs in a generous splash of olive oil until golden and crunchy. Crush the garlic with salt, parsley and saffron, add thealmonds and pound until coarsely ground. Add the fried breadcrumbs and set aside while you assemble the dish.

Place the monkfish, red mullet and bass in an earthenware oven tray and pour over the tomato sauce. Add a little water and the mussels, then sprinkle over thepicada. Bake in the hot oven until the fish is easy to flake apart and the mussels open (about 15 minutes).

Serve with a plate of greens or potatoes liberally dressed with olive oil and sherry vinegar.

What to drink:
There are several ways to go with this robustly-flavoured dish. My own preference, I think, would be for a dry Spanish rosado from Rioja or Navarra but you could drink an Albarino or even a young red like the increasingly fashionable Mencia or a young (joven) Rioja. Chilled manzanilla sherry would be great too.

You can visit the Dock Kitchen website here - it's a little out of the way but has a great atmosphere and fabulous food. Well worth a visit.

Photograph © Toby Glanville

Beef fillet in red wine and soya sauce

In our final extract from Cape Wine Braai Masters we feature a recipe intended for Gemsbok from Michael Bucholz, winemaker for the Obikwa range but as antelope are a bit thin on the ground in the UK I've adapted it for beef fillet.

BEEF FILLET IN RED WINE & SOYA SAUCE

1.5kg beef or any South African antelope fillet

MARINADE
3 cups red wine (preferably Merlot)
cup soya sauce
cup olive oil
1 heaped tablespoon soft brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, grated (add more if you like)
3–4cm fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 heaped tablespoon coriander seeds, dry-fried & coarsely crushed
2 fresh chillies, deseeded & finely sliced (add more if you like)
1 tablespoon salt for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Spring onions for garnishing

Combine all ingredients for the marinade. Place the meat in a tight-fitting bowl, pour the marinade over it and leave covered in the fridge overnight. Turn the meat from time to time. Strain the marinade off the meat and retain for basting. Place the meat on a braai grid over hot coals (the fire needs to be hot enough to ensure good browning of the meat without charring). Season both sides with salt and pepper. Baste the meat regularly and cook for 20 minutes on each side for a well-browned, slightly caramelised coating and a fillet that is rare to medium-rare. Allow the meat to rest for at least 10–15 minutes, slice, garnish with spring onion cut into slivers lengthwise and serve.

WINE NOTE
Michael suggests a glass of Obikwa Merlot but frankly this wine-friendly dish would go with almost any full-bodied South African red.

 

Roast vegetable stacks

Another recipe for your World Cup celebrations from the Van Loveren family. It comes from the new Wines of South Africa cookbook Cape Wine Braai Masters but you could equally well cook it with a conventional oven and grill.

You can use any vegetables of your choice in whatever quantities required such as

Aubergines (eggplants), baby marrows (zucchini), green, red and yellow bell peppers and whole mushrooms
Garlic butter
Mozzarella cheese
Mixed fresh herbs of your choice
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground salt and black pepper

Cut the aubergines into thick rounds. Salt the slices and stand in a colander for about 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly in water and dry with kitchen towel. Season the aubergines, drizzle with olive oil and roast or grill them on both sides. Roast the peppers under the grill until the skins blister and blacken. Wrap with clingfilm for 5 minutes. Peel away the skins and quarter the peppers. Fry the baby marrows in a griddle pan in some olive oil. Slice the mushrooms and fry them in garlic butter. Stack the vegetables in layers on top of the aubergine rounds, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese and some herbs. Bake at 200°C for about 15 minutes. Pop under the grill for a few minutes to brown the cheese if you like.

Wine note: It would obviously depend what else you were serving at the barbecue. The Van Loverens recommend their Cramond, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay but if you were serving the vegetables as an accompaniment to lamb, they suggest you go for their Wolverine Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon