Chicken in red wine, in the slow cooker

My house smells delicious right now because a huge pot of coq au vin has been cooking all day in my slow cooker. Coq au vin (chicken in wine) is a French staple and something I normally equate with being involved and time consuming. If you want a full version of the traditional recipe, use Julia Child’s method.

But I got excited when I saw a much easier version in one of my favorite slow cooker books: “Make it Fast, Cook it Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking.” The book, by home cook and mother Stephanie O’Dea, is the result of a year’s worth of slow cooker cooking. In 2008, O’Dea resolved to use her slow cooker every day of the year. She chronicled her recipes – the successes and the failures – on a website called A Year of Slow Cooking. You can access that site here.

If you want to read more about O’Dea, her popular shortcuts and her cookbooks, check out this link.
If you want to get a copy of “Make it Fast, Cook it Slow” go here.

My sweet husband got me a copy last year, and it is terrific. I especially love how she included popular take-out recipes that can be made at home easily and inexpensively.

Photos to come soon on my version of coq au vin – gotta finish cooking it first.