Long Live Mother's Day - Cake & Coq au Vin!

All I have to say is that my family made Mother's Day a very special day this year.

We spent the day in each others company, not doing anything in particular, well I say that, I did the minimum and Tony worked hard and I was totally spoilt and that's why I loved the day, that and because I enjoyed being a mum with . I didn't have to do the run of the mill things I have to do week in, week out, don't get me wrong I had to do them the day before, but normally if I did that, other equally mundane things would fill my Sunday, but not this week.

The day started with a cup of tea in bed (thanks Tony) and Lauren arriving with cards and presents, cards she had made herself, which all mums know are the best kind, although we are still very happy with a hand picked one too! I had some Thornton's chocolates and the Breaking Dawn blu ray. Then, just as I was about to get up in they came with not 1, but 2 gorgeous bunches of flowers, which Tony whisked away and arranged in vases as I got dressed and ready.




















No big breakfast as I knew Tony had a lovely meal planned. We Skype'd Nanny in Spain and then called Ma in Cornwall to wish them both a Happy Mother's Day.

Then I put my feet up and sat with Lauren, she played with her cars and planes and animals and we chattered and watched music channels, we talked about Jessie J's cat suit and how we didn't like her lipstick, how much we love the "Goyte" song and the "Titanium" video. I sorted through recipes, I am trying to get rid of my magazines and keep the good recipes in folders, ready to cook and blog about. Lauren made me an underwater collage, I drew the fish she did the arranging. Tony brought me beer and fresh peas!

All the time, Tony worked away in the kitchen, lovely smells drifted out, until eventually dinner was served. A Coq au Vin, courtesy of Delia Smiths Complete Illustrated Cookery Guide, served with roast parsnips and potatoes, tender stem broccoli, fresh peas and Brussels sprouts (commonly known as fibs in our house, eat one and tell a fib e.g. this dinner is disgusting!).

The dinner was lovely, there was a good balance of meat and vegetables. The parsnips were delicious, sweet and roasted to perfection. The Coq au Vin was very rich, the chicken was deep red on the outside and moist and light on the inside, falling off the bone, all complimented by tasty mushrooms and sweet little onions, enveloped in a buttery, deep coloured sauce with a rich wine taste and a hint of thyme and bay. We both agreed though that the sauce was greasy, I would say looking at the recipe that it's to do with the amount of oil and butter and the lardons and the skin on the chicken that contributed to this, the recipe was published in 1978, since then we have learnt to cook in a more efficient way.

Coq au Vin

So the recipe asks you to joint a 5lb/2.25kg chicken into 8 pieces, but you could buy a ready jointed chicken or a combination of bone in breast, thigh and leg joints. It then asks you to seal the chicken in 1oz butter and 1 tbsp oil. However, the next job is to fry 8oz bacon lardons, so I would suggest you dry fry the bacon lardons, when they are browned transfer them to a large flame proof casserole. (The meal is cooked on a hob and not in the oven. The pan should be wide enough to contain the chicken in one layer and deep enough for the pieces to be covered in liquid) Then brown the chicken pieces* in fat that has been released from the bacon, thus taking the butter and oil out of the recipe. Once the chicken has been browned and placed in the casserole, you should still have enough in the pan to fry 16 button onions/shallots (peeled) and also then add them to the casserole. Crush 2 cloves of garlic and add them to the dish, along with 2 sprigs of fresh thyme and 2 bay leaves. Season lightly and pour in 1.25 (725ml) pints of red wine, preferably something French.
Cover with a lid and simmer for 45-60 minutes or until the chicken is tender. 15 minutes before the end add 8 oz portobello, or similar dark gilled mushrooms.
Discard the thyme and the bay. Remove the chicken, bacon, mushrooms and onions from the sauce and keep on a warmed plate. Make a paste from a tablespoon each of flour and butter, bring the sauce to a boil and add the paste, whisking vigorously until the sauce has thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.
*Personally before browning the chicken I would coat it in flour so that the sauce thickens as the chicken cooks, taking away the need for a butter paste/roux at the end and reducing the added fat a bit more.

Looking back over the photos I realised this recipe wasn't telling the whole picture, where did that back taste of brandy come from? And I remembered there were carrots in our dinner! I had a peek in the The Good Housekeeping Cookery Book and can see that you can flambé the chicken in 4 tbsp of brandy and you can add some carrots when you add the onions.

Once dinner was over, we tidied the kitchen, well mostly Tony did and then we sat down for some games of snap and the memory game and a game of Operation, before tucking into the cake, which I have to say looked and tasted beautiful. It had a lot of sprinkles but they were such lovely colours and somehow the butter cream ended up looking like white chocolate and was wonderfully thin so as not to overpower the vanilla sponge and raspberry jam. It brought a very big smile to my face, especially as it was served with a candle which we collectively blew out. The sponge was made by weighing 4 eggs in their shells, then weighing out the same quantities of butter, caster sugar and self raising flour, adding a teaspoon of vanilla essence and you will also need to add 1-2 tbsp milk to get a good consistency, then bake at GM4/180C for 25-30 minutes, until golden and a skewer or knife stabbed into the centre of the sponge comes out clean. Leave to cool, sandwich together with the filling of your choice and decorate according to taste.

We all sat and watched The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy film and then it was time for us to all gradually start our bedtime routines and say good bye to a perfect Mother's Day, thanks Tony and Lauren x x