Nothing says French cooking like a good coq au vin, and this one by culinary master Guy Savoy is hard to beat. Serve with a glass of good Pinot Noir for a truly heavenly experience.
METHOD
1. Cut the rooster into evenly sized, bone-in pieces and place them in a deep dish.
2. Peel the carrots and slice them into rounds.
3. Peel the onions; cut them in half. Stud half of one onion with the two cloves and finely slice the remaining onions.
4. Place the carrots, sliced onions, clove-studded onion half, bouquet garni, and whole Sarawak pepper in the dish with the rooster pieces. Mix well, then pour over the 4 litres of wine. Marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
5. Drain the marinated rooster pieces in a colander. In a separate colander, drain the vegetables, keeping the marinade wine aside.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
7. In a large pot, heat the canola oil and brown the rooster pieces seasoned with fine salt and pepper. They should be deeply golden. Remove and drain again. In the same pot, sweat the marinated vegetables over low heat, return the rooster pieces, and dust with flour. Place in the oven for 5–10 minutes to cook the flour. Remove from the oven and pour in the reserved red wine marinade, bouquet garni, and clove-studded onion.
8. Cook, covered, in the oven for about 2 hours, adding the chicken stock halfway through.
9. Remove the rind from the pork belly and cut into generous lardons. Bring them to a boil in a saucepan of cold water, then drain. Chill.
10. Clarify 120g of butter by melting it gently and separating out the milk solids, keeping only the clear fat.
11. Cut triangles from the slices of sandwich bread and pan fry them in the clarified butter. Drain on paper; they should be golden and crisp.
12. Peel the pearl onions and cook them, covered, with just enough water to cover, a little butter, and a pinch of fine salt.
13. Clean the button mushrooms and cook them the same way: covered, with water to just cover, a little butter, and a pinch of salt.
14 When the rooster is cooked, gently remove the pieces. The meat should be very tender. Strain the cooking liquid into a clean pot, adjust the consistency, and finish with a knob of butter to soften the sauce. Check the seasoning, then return the meat to the sauce and keep warm.
15. Wash, dry, and finely chop the flat leaf parsley.
16. Sauté the lardons in a little rapeseed oil until golden, then drain.
17. Re-heat the pearl onions and mushrooms.
To serve: In a warm serving dish, arrange the rooster pieces and pour the hot sauce over them. Add the pearl onions, mushrooms, and lardons. Finish by adding the croutons – dip one corner of each into the sauce, then into the chopped parsley before placing on the dish.