Cooking for Special Occasions: A Time to Let Your Skills Shine

It may come as no surprise that as a home cook or as a professional cook special occasions are a time to really let your skills shine.

This  is nothing unfamiliar to line cooks and chefs working in restaurant kitchens. Holidays and special occasions such as Mothers Day, Valentine's day, graduations and other events are the bread and butter of the restaurant industry. However, a lot a home cooks and hobbyists can be discouraged or feel overwhelmed by the idea of cooking for a major holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Well I'm here to say that even some of the most well known professional chefs make mistakes in the kitchen. We're only human, and mistakes are just a part of this hobby that we can learn and grow from.

In this post I'm going to share another easy to follow recipe that is a perfect fit for any occasion and absolutely simple with just a dutch oven or oven safe braising pan.

Coq Au Vin With Mashed Potatoes 

Ingredients

2-4 Skin on, bone in chicken thighs (can be substituted with chicken breasts in a pinch)

4-6oz Thick cut bacon 

1 large yellow onion, sliced

2 Cloves Garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 Bottle Dry Red wine  (preferably burgundy, but Pinot Noir also works) 

1 lb Russet potatoes

1 1/2 sticks of butter (no margarine here!) 

1/2 lb Button mushrooms, stemmed and cut into quarters or large chunks 

3-5 sprigs of thyme

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1. Pat dry and season chicken thighs/breasts and allow to come to room temperature or close to. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2. Place dutch oven or oven safe pan over medium heat adding the olive oil.

3. Once pan is hot place thighs/breasts in skin side down and allow to sear until golden brown, flipping and doing this again on the other side

4. Once chicken is browned, remove from pan and place aside. Add in sliced onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook until softened and translucent stirring often to prevent burning.

5. Deglaze pan with the 1/2 bottle of red wine and add in the 1 cup of chicken stock. Add chicken back to pot insuring that the liquid almost covers. Add in 1/2 stick of butter. 

6. Place pan into oven with lid slightly ajar, set timer for 40 minutes.

7. While the chicken is cooking cube potatoes an set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil 

8. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Remove, drain and add to mixing bowl or bowl of electric mixer.

9. Starting slowly, begin mashing potatoes adding in the rest of the butter and heavy cream and mash until desired consistency.

10. Plate up over a pile of mashed potatoes and spoon over the braising liquid from the pot, serve alongside your choice of vegetable or just by itself and enjoy!