Coq Au Vin Recipe | Unofficial Slimming World

I've been trying to get back in to the swing of things now the holidays are over.  I can't be the only one with back-to-work blues, surely?

But after two exciting weeks of exploring France's coastlines in the camper van I converted myself, I've felt so inspired to return to get back in to my kitchen and have a play.

It's been a few years since we'd been, now that the in laws don't live there anymore, but it was our first time a camper and for Hans, our fur baby collie.The plan was to drive around the whole outskirts of France in two weeks and naively, we thought it could be done.  (Not unless we want to stare at tar-mac for the duration, we realised).

And every beautiful place, we had an urge to feast our eyes on, rest and enjoy the sunshine while we had it.

Our favourite area by far though was the West, despite being curious to move on to the Med and see what it was all about.  As soon as we got there, I was missing the long, golden and dog friendly sandy beaches.
And it may surprise you that we didn't eat out an awful lot.  Our camper van is fully equipped with a kitchen, bed and toilet, so we spent more time seeing what E.leclerc supermarkets had to offer.

Also, when we arrived, the exchange rate was pretty bad right now and more or less a pound to a euro.  But I was still tempted to see France's take on a McDonalds and had what I thought was a superb juicy burger at Buffalo Grills.

I don't consider it as adventurous visiting a chain restaurant, but after seeing them at the road side (more common than a Little Chef in its heyday), they'd reeled us in to give them a go.  It turned out better value than I expected and ultimately delicious.

When we initially arrived to Normandy though, I found the weather typically British until we drove South.  And the warmer it became, the more we got in to a routine of visiting a local Boulangerie for a fresh daily baguette to go with salad and sliced meats.

As much as we were enjoying ourselves, by the second week, I officially declared myself baguette-ed out.  I'd started to feel a full to the brim sickness feeling with no warning which led to a headache and a 3 day ugly migraine on my return.  In fact, my stomach is still feeling a little sensitive now, but it's certainly not stopping me visiting again.So, once I felt better enough to go food shopping, I thought I'd plan making one of my favourite French dishes without the guilt and that is an adapted version of Coq au Vin.

After seeing plentiful fresh ingredients in a French campsite's shop (and the regret of not buying a bouquet garni), I instantly thought of this recipe.

I've not made it for years since joining Slimming World and really don't think that should be stopping me.It's usually quite an expensive meal, but having picked up most of my things in Aldi, it really softens the blow.  The most expensive part about it is the chicken and wine.

As for the latter, I'm sure some of you will say real red wine for cooking is a  deal breaker, but I opted for Tesco red wine stockpots instead.  Sometimes, I just don't like the idea of counting alcohol when it's cooked off anyway.  Am I missing something here?

Of course, if you feel you need to replace some of the stock with real wine, then I'm not stopping you!  (You'll want to reduce it down first for a more subtle taste).I also brought a bit of France home with us too in the way of salt.  While we looked for many Aires to sleep over, we discovered a really cool place with much sea water and roads intertwined.  This was Guérande.

The salt marshes in Guérande lead the way for mile and miles, where hundreds would be working and selling it in bags at road sides.

We, however, stumbled across it again in a final supermarket trip to stock up on various things we liked to take home with us.  So, although very little French offering in my family feast, it was fun to cook with.

Hopefully we'll be returning in the New Year for my birthday and finally pay a visit to Paris.  What's your favourite part of France?  Mine is definitely west of Bordeaux in La Porge.

If you want to see more of our holiday photos, there will be much more over at my DIY & self made camper van blog, The Carpenter's Daughter.

Also, I cooked mine in my Tefal Cook4Me Connect multicooker, but as I usually cook it on my hob, you'll find the instructions for that too!

More Red Wine Used for Cooking Ideas

• Beef braised in red wine gravy
• Sausages in red wine sauce
• Beef and red wine or Guinness pie recipe
• Non alcoholic Sangria recipe
• Potato and sausage bake
• Cheesy cottage pie recipe
• Red wine chocolate fridge cake

CAN'T MAKE IT RIGHT NOW? HERE'S A PIN TO SAVE IT FOR LATER!

📖 Recipe