Beginners' French in the Slow Cooker

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

When you think of French cooking, what generally comes to mind are delicate, complex dishes that take hours of painstaking preparation. The masterpieces of French cooking are similar to works of fine art—anointed with complicated sauces and garnished with intricately carved vegetables.

This is not generally the kind of food you would think of when you pull out the slow cooker to prepare a simple and fuss-free meal. But there is a whole other kind of regional and country French cooking to consider that might take hours to make, but most of the work is magically done by the long (and hands free) cooking process that can easily take place in the crockpot.

There are so many rustic French dishes that lend themselves to the slow cooking process— classics that include Beef Bourguignon, a complexly flavored, but easy to make beef stew simmered in wine with vegetables, and Coq Au Vin, a poultry fricassee made with wine, garlic, bacon, pearl onions, and mushrooms. This dish was traditionally made with rooster (coq means rooster) because older roosters generally have a lot of connective tissue that creates a richer broth when long cooked. But don’t worry, you don’t have to go out hunting for a rooster to make this satisfying dish. It is now commonly made with more readily available chicken.

Legend suggests that the roots of the recipe for Coq au Vin can be traced to a gift of rooster given to Julius Caesar’s cook by the ancient Gauls. It is usually made with red wine, but there are many French regional variations that are often made with wine local to the area, including an Alsatian version made with Riesling, or even one with champagne. Like many other great dishes made by home cooks, the rest of the preparation and ingredients are also a matter of personal taste

I remember the wallpaper in the kitchen of the house where I grew up having kitschy pictures of rotund French chefs and recipes written for various classic dishes (my parents decorated the house in the late 1970s so you can’t really fault them too much). The wallpaper included one for Coq au Vin. I always wondered what this dish with the intriguing foreign name was all about. While the recipe below may not be an exact replica of the one from the wallpaper, it is one that you can make easily in the slow cooker for a very enjoyable country French meal.

So tonight you can recreate a charming French Bistro in your home. Start slow cooking the Coq au Vin early in the morning. Let it cook all day, allowing the flavors to mellow and meld together, while you tend to your business or keep yourself otherwise entertained. On the way home, pick up a nice crusty baguette and your favorite bottle of wine. When you get home and are ready to serve dinner, dim the lights and place some lit votive candles on the table, and voila! It will feel like you have made a short journey to a faraway place!

Serves/Makes: 6

• 5 slices uncooked bacon, diced
• 4 pounds chicken, cut into pieces
• 6 small white pearl onions, peeled
• 1/2 pound cremini or baby portabella mushrooms
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup chicken stock or low sodium broth
• 2 cups full bodied red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon