Coq Au Riesling for #eattheworld

Welcome to the Eat the World project, led by Evelyne of CulturEatz. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!

For this month's assignment, we were given the country of Luxembourg. After a little searching, I pretty quickly settled on Coq au Riesling. There were many variations (as usual) - but chicken, Riesling wine, cream, and mushrooms seems to cover the basics for this lovely dish.

It's rustic, hearty, rich, creamy, and oh so satisfying. It was delicious scooped over some mashed potatoes. It's very "stew-like" in consistency depending on how thick you get the sauce / gravy. If you don't have heavy whipping cream, you can definitely use milk or half and half, but you may want to make a flour paste to thicken the sauce with to get to your preferred consistency (I like mine to be thick!)

The fresh parsley is a wonderful addition to brighten up those rich flavors. And if you have leftovers, remove the chicken from the sauce and let it cool, the pull it off the bone, give it a rough chop and throw it back into the gravy. I found that made leftovers quick and easy, and less "fuss" then a whole bone-in thigh. 

See all of our Luxembourg dishes today!

Tara’s Multicultural Table: Kniddelen (Luxembourgish Dumplings) 

Radha: Gromperekichelcher 

Sugarlovespices: Luxembourg Sweet Love Pretzels 

Palatable Pastime: Chicken in Riesling 

Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Bouchée à la Reine (Vol-au-Vent) 

Pandemonium Noshery: Bouneschlupp - Luxembourg Green Bean Soup 

Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Bou’neschlupp 

Kitchen Frau: Stäerzelen (Buckwheat Dumplings) 

A Day in the Life on the Farm: Gromperekichelcher (Potato Pancakes) 

Sneha’s Recipe: Gromperekichelcher-Luxembourg Potato Fritters 

Making Miracles: Coq Au Riesling

Coq Au Riesling

Ingredients

1 TBS butter

1 TBS olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 slices bacon, cut into strips

1 TBS minced garlic

4 chicken thighs, on the bone, skin on

½ cup mushrooms, sliced (I substituted 1 4-oz can mushrooms, drained)

1 cup Riesling

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp black pepper, more to taste

1/2 tsp salt, more to taste

Fresh parsley, finely diced

Directions

1. Add the butter and olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken on both sides about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the diced onion and bacon to the pot, and stir and sauté about 8-10 minutes, until onion is tender and beginning to brown and bacon is cooked through and beginning to crisp. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the bacon / onion mixture and stir in. Add in the garlic and stir for 1 more minute. If using fresh mushrooms, add them in with  the garlic and sauté a few minutes until they begin to release moisture. If using canned mushroom, add in along with the chicken thighs in the next step.
2. Settle the chicken thighs back into the pot, along with any accumulated juices. Pour the cup of Riesling over the chicken and bring to a low simmer. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. 
3. Remove lid and whisk in the heavy cream. Return to a low simmer and simmer about 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through, and sauce is bubbly and thickened. (If you want to make it a little easier to combine the sauce, you can remove the chicken to a platter while you whisk in the sauce and taste / adjust the flavor, then replace the chicken and simmer 10-15 minutes uncovered to thicken).
4. Taste, and adjust seasonings if desired.
5. Sprinkle the fresh parsley over everything, and serve over hot noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Recipe adapted from Quinoa and Cookies