Quick Coq au Vin

This recipe calls for mushrooms. SIX CUPS of mushrooms. Which would be fine, except that I don't like mushrooms. It's a texture thing. When they are raw, they are spongy, and when they are cooked, they are slimy. The flavor of mushrooms is quite good, but the texture is not for me.

So when I make it, I make it with more carrots and throw in some pearl onions. I'll include the mushrooms in the recipe here for those of you who are less weird than me, but rest assured that you can make it without the fungi and it turns out just fine. I'm sure the flavor with the mushrooms is even better.

from Cooking Light

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
6 (4 oz) boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 cups quartered cremini mushrooms (optional if you are like me)
2 cups sliced carrots (or 3 if you leave out the mushrooms)
1 cup pearl onions (frozen is fine--this was not in the original recipe but I think they are good)
1/3 cup slices of Canadian Bacon, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry red wine (2 buck chuck works well)
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp tomato paste (I confess I sometimes use ketchup b/c I don't want to open a whole thing of tomato paste)

Combne flour, thyme, and salt in a ziplock bag. Add chicken. Seal and shake to coat (I shake, and Mom bakes--remember that commercial?). Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken. Cook 8 minutes or untill browned, turning frequently. Remove chicken from pan.

Add mushrooms (if you use them), carrots, onions, and bacon to pan. Saute 2 minutes.

Stir in wine, broth, and tomato paste (or ketchup). Cook 9 minutes.

Return chicken to pan. Cook 8 minutes or until chicken is done, turning at least once (so the wine gets on both sides).

When you are finished there won't be much (if any) sauce left, but the chicken will be tender and taste AWESOME.

I like to serve this with rice (you can add the rest of the chicken broth to the water you cook it in).

The Big Geek likes the chicken but isn't a fan of the carrots. Of course, he's not a fan of anything that resembles a vegetable, except green beans and corn. And since neither of those would go well in this recipe, he's out of luck. I just eat his carrots.

He also told me the pearl onions were "weird" and "like grapes." I think they are good, and since I'm cooking, he can just pick around them.

I have no picture of this because I was really hungry. I plated the food, then thought, "I should take a picture." Then I thought, "screw that, I'm hungry." So you'll have to make do without one this time. :)