COQ AU VIN

To begin, I wanted to make the recipe for Coq au vin I found at this blog site . Such a classic french dish and I was drawn to it when I saw it was made in a crock pot...love the old crock pot for busy days. Here's a little culinary history:

"Coq au Vin is a classical French dish that is made with bone-in chicken, salt pork or bacon, brandy, red wine and herbs. The dish originated when farmers needed a way to cook old chickens that could no longer breed. A slow, moist cooking method was needed to tenderize the tough old birds."

I love to learn, love to cook and love the term tough old bird. Well, I had a couple of problems with the recipe I found:

1. you do so much cooking prior to tossing it into the crock pot that I didn't really feel it was a typical "crock pot recipe" yet it is. Just a fair amount of work.

2. This recipe always calls for wine. I'm not one of those who feels the alcohol burns off so it's okay to use. I'm one of the avoid having alcohol in my home, don't want to acquire a taste for alcohol or have my children acquire that taste.

Many, many years ago I brought home a bottle of cheap cooking wine which I know real cooks abhor as very low quality and not to be cooked with but I didn't have cable and foodtv back in those days.... I put it on a very high, very unused shelf in the very back. I had to stand up on a chair to put it away. That told me something-I didn't want the kids to see it, find it, ask about it. I got rid of it and never have wanted to have it around my house. Having said all that, a couple years ago while in Oregon, Jody and I were talking about the wonderful Port wine and melted butter mixture that Dad used to baste the grilled chicken with when we were girls. I admitted sticking my finger in the mixture and licking it off-repeatedly. While shopping , Jody and I bought some Port so we could duplicate that family recipe/memory. That summer we never did make the recipe. The next summer the bottle was still there, unopened, and yes, it is in a upper, out of little hands reach cupboard even in Jody's kitchen. I just don't think we are cut out for cooking with booze.

After a little research I found substitutes for wine/alcohol in recipes here-Gourmetsleuth.com. But do you think it will still taste good? I'm not sure. Have any of you had success substituting alcohol in recipes? Perhaps the fact that I've not tasted coq au vin with wine I won't miss the wine.

Well, that's all for now. I can't recommend the recipe or put it on KITK since I haven't tried it yet. Maybe next week. I do love chicken, bacon, onions, mushrooms, herbs etc. I'll return and report.