Party Round-Up: French Rustic

Last night’s dinner went pretty well! Especially for cooking a new recipe (always a risk).

The coq au vin came out this wonderful dark burgundy color with the meat almost falling off the bone. I ended up using free range breasts, thighs and drumsticks because apparently they don’t sell non-boneless chicken breasts anymore. This gave the dish a little more of a rustic feeling and a lot more flavor. I started browning the chicken at 6:00 and the stew was perfectly simmered around 7:45. I forgot to mention in the recipe yesterday that you’ll want to take the celery out before serving.

I did have a couple timing problems. The artichokes went in a little too early (needing exactly 40 minutes) and the potatoes a little too late (needing more than the 15 minutes stated). Neither was a disaster, though. Our guests, Calie and Kevin, we’re wonderful conversation and we had no trouble with an extra wait.

What fun! Rob and I have some dishes to do tonight. We also have leftover coq au vin waiting for our dinner. Like lasagna and potato salad, it just gets better the second day. I can’t wait!