Kosher Coq Au Vin?
Can anyone think of a bacon / salt pork substitute for Coq Au Vin?
Not turkey bacon because I need the fat to brown the chicken and mushrooms in.
Not Crisco because the bacon fat adds flavor to the dish.
Maybe chicken fat with some salt? Not sure if it's comparable.
I'm drawing a blank...help?!
InmanSQ Girl
Jul 02, 2007 02:25PM
Duck:
http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=421791
Lamb:
http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2006/08...
Both? yum!
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I have friends in France who keep "cachère" and they definitely would NOT substitute another meat - they just do a lovely chicken braise (in olive oil, natch) and add herbs and savoury vegetables as well as the wine. I guarantee it will be delicious.
What wine do you use? Fortant de France is from the southwest of France (the owners are Sephardic, from North Africa), and they make kosher wines that would have an appropriate profile. (Not all Fortant de France wines are kosher, but of course you know to look for the symbol).
Do you have a copy of Claudia Roden's masterwork "Book of Jewish Food"? Perhaps there is a traditional coq au vin recipe in the France section?
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I know you've said no turkey bacon, but you can use turkey bacon and then just add a bit of olive oil to the pan for the chicken and mushrooms. They'll still get some of the bacony flavor from the stuff that has just cooked. But you're right - the turkey bacon really doesn't give off anywhere near as much fat.
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Start sauteeing in chicken fat or olive oil (chicken fat would be nicest) and add some diced smoked meat (any kind) to the dish before beginning the braise. If you don't have access to nice smoked turkey or beef, throw in some smoked paprika instead. It's not going to be identical but I'll bet it will be absolutely delicious.
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On second and third thought, I would use just olive oil for the saute and not attempt to substitute anything else. When I really think about it, it's never the porky bacony smokiness that is the point of coq au vin. In the end, I agree with lagatta.
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Well, of course it comes down to your own taste in the end; all I can tell you is what one would do in contemporary French kosher cuisine. (I suspect that in times past, the fat would have been goose, duck or chicken fat except among the Mediterranean communities in the south of France (who are closely related to the Italians in Livorno (Leghorn).
The main point is the quality of the chicken, a certain quality of the wine (not to waste fine wine, but a decent one that suits the flavours) and of course its slow and careful cooking.
I googled "coq au vin" "casher" but while I did find several kosher restos in France serving the dish, unfortunately I didn't turn up any authentic recipes.
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You are already going to salt the dish to taste, so don't try to second guess how much salt comes from the bacon. I'd say just brown the chicken and mushrooms in what ever fat you like, salt to taste, and don't worry about adding pork flavor. Since the recipe calls for salt pork, the smoke flavor of bacon isn't necessary.
In my experience, dishes like this can be good even if they are missing one or two of the secondary flavor ingredients.
paulj
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I would think a smoked beef sausage would work.
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Look for Beef Fry - it is a beef based 'bacon' - since I keep kosher I can not comment on how the taste compares to bacon but it is much fattier than the turkey bacon - I know aaron's makes it - not knowing where you are at but you might also call a local kosher butcher -
I have used beef fry with Tyler Florences Ultimate chicken with great success - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...
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Could you use the skin from a smoked turkey leg? Just dice it up and render it down in a little olive oil and you should get the smokey flavor that bacon would impart. I have also seen beef bacon at middle eastern grocery stores, but I'm not sure what cut of meat it is derived from so couldn't say if it is kosker or not.
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It is more likely Halal rather than Kosher, unless it is a Sephardic/Mizrahi Jewish butcher's (we have some very good ones here in Montréal) . And indeed one of the main differences is that Halal can use the hindquarters, without having to remove the sciatic nerve (guess that passage about Jacob/Yakov/Yacoub and the Angel doesn't exist in the Koran, or have the same importance).
But it would be essentially the same product as the Kosher Beef Fry.
On the subject of pork-free French cuisine, the smoked turkey leg is an excellent ingredient in a Choucroute. Choucroute garnie à la juive* is a dish with a very long heritage: http://www.recipezaar.com/200903 Wonder if you can find the smoked duck or goose breast? I have seen kosher Alsatian wine.
*There are spelling and punctuation errors in the recipezaar title
The kosher coq au vin recipe http://www.recipezaar.com/194262 is similar to what my friend makes, but she uses a whole bottle of wine (reduced into a sauce - don't worry if serving to children - the sauce is cooked so much that it contains virtually no alcohol). But then serviceable wines, even kosher wines, are not terribly expensive in France.
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I tell you Beef Fry is what you are looking for - Abeles and Heymann also make Beef Fry - http://www.abeles-heymann.com/
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