Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Quite a few recipes online for coq au vin meatballs.  And for those timid souls who treat recipes as scripture, I say, cast away your fear….best to sip some wine before you cast.   See, I view a recipe as merely a blank canvas, upon which the cook doth slap on the paint.

 

But, wait a sec.  Let’s chat briefly about the name coq au vin. The literal translation is rooster in wine.  Never heard of anyone using a rooster, but my knowledge of barnyards is sketchy at best.  Mostly, recipes call for chicken pieces, bone-in, root vegetables and wine. Traditional coq au vin uses a deep, rich Burgundy, but that varies depending on which French region you’re in.  In the Alsace, right across the Mosel River from Germany, Riesling is the wine of choice.  Mine, too, especially in the summer time.  Riesling has a brighter flavor and it’s that time a year to once again embrace the sunny days of summer.

 

The traditional recipe also calls for bacon (lardons) and garlic, neither of which I chose.  Why?  Because I didn’t have any bacon in my frig! But, I did have some patties of Jimmy Dean sausage.  And garlic?  On this fine, summer day, the flavor just didn’t appeal to me.  Then there’s the question of whole chicken pieces versus ground chicken that’s turned into meatballs.  And then when you add the extra ingredients to the ground chicken…. Ou la la, c’est magnifique!

 

I’m sure you’ll spot other twists and turns in my recipe that bypass the traditional, but as Rhett Butler famously said, “Frankly, my dear…..”

 

But, enough twaddle and prattle.  Let’s get straight to slapping the paint on the canvas.

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Les Ingrédients

 

1 lb ground chicken or turkey

1 egg

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

4 patties of Jimmy Dean regular sausage (or any other brand you favor or happen to have in the refrig)

½ sweet onion (or yellow onion) chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 handfuls of fresh spinach (For timid souls, don’t worry about the size of your hands.)

2 handfuls (about two cups) of mushrooms, sliced and chopped

1 ½ cups chicken broth (I used one of those cubes that good for 2 cups, but I used 1 1/2 cups to make it richer.)

2 tablespoons tomato paste (I buy it by the tube since many recipes call for only a tablespoon or two.)

1 cup Riesling wine (or another dry white wine)

a pat of butter and heaping teaspoon of rice flour (or corn starch) mashed together as a thickening agent

½ cup chopped parsley for garnish

½ cup sliced green onions for garnish

sweet potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise and baked (to accompany)

 

Mettre Ensemble (Putting it together)

 

Make the meatballs and heat the oven to 400ºF

 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs and parmesan.  Add a little salt and pepper. Roll into tablespoon sized meatballs (should yield 15-20) and place them on the baking sheet.  Bake them about 20 minutes, turning once.

Hint:  Saves time if you bake the sweet potatoes as you bake the meatballs.

 

Make the Sauce

Fry the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks.  Turn down the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the rest of the vegetables, except for the spinach and the garnish.  Stir often.

 

Add the chicken broth and wine.  Cook until the vegetables are tender.

 

Add the baked meatballs and the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts.

Add the thickener if you wish.

 

Serve in a bowl beside the baked sweet potato. Add the garnish.

Voila!  Wasn’t that fun?  Wasn’t that easy? Don’t you want to celebrate by polishing off the rest of the Riesling? Yeah, me too!