COQ AU VIN
Most traditional recipes deal with a whole chicken (cockerel).
This old Julia Child recipe (1961) used a frying chicken, but by using skinless chicken breasts, some of the drudgery and a lot of the fat is eliminated. It is divided in sections (French Chefs Cooking team, WGBH-TV), simplifying preparation.
THE BACON
Lean streaky bacon, about 4 oz.
2 Tb. cooking oil
Cut bacon into small pieces, simmer for 10 minutes in 2 quarts water; drain and dry.
Saute bacon in casserole with oil to a light brown. Remove bacon, leaving fat in pan or casserole.
BROWNING THE CHICKEN
About 2 1/2 lb chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup cognac or brandy
Brown chicken in the hot fat (360 F). Season with salt and pepper.
Return bacon to pan, cover and cook slowly (300 F) for 10 minutes, turning chicken once or twice.
Uncover, pour in brandy or cognac. Ignite.
Shake pan or pot back and forth until flames subside.
SIMMERING IN RED WINE
3 cups dry red wine (Burgundy, etc.; on the full-bodied side)
1-2 cups beef stock or boullion.
1 Tb tomato paste
Mashed garlic (2 cloves, but more is fine if garlic very mild)
1/4 tsp thyme
1-2 bay leaves
Pour wine into pan or pot. Add enough boullion to cover chicken. Stir in tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Bring to simmer, cover and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork.
THE ONIONS
12-24 small white onions
1-2 Tb cooking oil
Salt to taste.
While chicken is cooking, drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to boil, let boil for one minute. Drain, cut off two ends of onions, peel carefully and pierce a cross in the root end with a small knife (object is to keep onions whole while cooking).
Heat oil in a frying pan, add onions and toss for several minutes until lihjtly browned. Add water to halfway up onions and 1/4 tsp salt, cover pan and simmer slowly for 25-30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierced with a knife.
THE MUSHROOMS
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms
1 Tb butter
1/2 Tb cooking oil
Trim base of mushroom stems, separate caps and stems and wash rapidly in cold water and dry in towel.
Cut caps into quarters, stems in bias chunks. Heat butter and oil in frying pan; when bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and saute over high heat for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned.

SAUCE AND SERVING
3 Tb flour
2 Tb softened butter
When chicken is done, drain out cooking liquid into a saucepan. Skim off fat (very little-none if skinless breasts used) and boil down liquid, if necessary, to concentrate flavor. You should have about 2 1/4 cups. Remove from heat.
Blend butter and flour together in a saucer; beat into the cooking liquid with a wire whip. Bring to the simmer, stirring, and simmer 1-2 minutes until sauce has thickened. Scrape onions and mushrooms into sauce and simmer a minute to blend flavors. Taste sauce and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Pour sauce over chicken.
Chicken is now ready for final reheating, but can be set aside until cool, then covered and refrigerated for a day or two.
Shortly before serving, bring to the simmer, basting chicken with sause. Cover and simmer slowly for 4-5 minutes, until chicken is hot through (Do not overcook at this point!).
Serve from casserole, or arrange on a hot platter and decorate with sprigs of parsley.
Accompany with parsley potatoes, rice or noodles; buttered green peas or a green salad; hot French bread; and the same red wine (or better) you used for cooking the chicken.

The garlic we get here has little flavor. Pearl onions are generally available; some use the corm and a short bit of stem of fresh green onions.
We add a little dried oregano to the SIMMERING IN RED WINE Stage.

Some recipes use cut up dried prunes and no mushrooms; this approaches a Mediterranean way of doing chicken. We prefer the mushrooms.