what did you just say?

I recently came across an “easy” recipe for Coq au vin and was reminded of yet another cooking attempt gone bad. This one dating back to my teen (or possibly pre-teen) years (further proof that I’ve been doomed in the kitchen my entire life) When I was a teenage girl I loooved me some Leif Garret. He was so dreamy…….

According to an interview in Tiger Beat, Leif’s favorite food was Coq au vin. So as a young girl, it was my mission to make sure that I could do anything possible to please my soon-to-be celebrity boyfriend. Obviously that meant learning to prepare this mystery dish. After all, we all know the way to man’s heart is through his stomach. (For the origin of that delightful proverb click here). Since this was pre-internet (can you imagine??) I have no idea where I found a recipe, but I found one somewhere and remember being shocked that Coq au vin translated to chicken in wine sauce. (Alcohol?? Oh, Leif. How could you?! We’re only teenagers!) Somehow I attempted this recipe on my own. I have no idea if my mom was in on the whole thing and helped with purchasing the ingredients or if I just went with what I could find. I do remember a lot of bacon grease and I think I used cooking sherry for the wine. There’s also a vague recollection of trying to figure out what to use as a substitute for this “cheesecloth” thing I needed.

I’m sure you know how this story ends. It was, of course, a disaster. Perhaps it was a sign because Leif didn’t turn out so good either:

I think in the end, my Coq au vin turned out better.