Coq au vin, judgy queuers, and pop-up parties

One of our ventilators exploded from heat exhaustion, and I managed to source a new one in a supermarket in an neighbouring town. In the queue to pay, where I was using the caddy as a crutch to guard myself from heat-induced fainting, the man behind me helpfully said: ‘Good grief woman, has it taken you this long to realise a ventilator might be a good idea?’ He then launched into a detailed account of his own impressively ventilated home, explaining how every room had one and exactly which direction each should face for maximum efficiency.

I’ve discovered that a very reliable indicator of extreme heat is whether I can summon the energy to argue. At normal temperatures, arguing a point is one of my favourite pastimes. At 42°C, however, I simply nodded, smiled and kept my motor mouth firmly shut.

Tuesday was our 25th wedding anniversary, and we decided to celebrate with a party. One party rapidly multiplied into several parties and assorted restaurant outings as we tried to accommodate everyone’s work schedules and travel plans. Between restaurant bookings and WhatsApp messages pinging incessantly, we eventually managed to find dates that suited everyone.

Then, of course, The Weather intervened; suddenly serving lunch on the terrace in 42°C heat morphed from a relaxed celebration into an endurance event. The ensuing round of cancellations, rearrangements and venue changes was enough to make anyone’s head spin.

As ever, the best-laid plans of mice and men went gloriously awry. On the actual day of our anniversary, we drove to our restaurant reservation only to find a notice on the door announcing, ‘exceptionally closed this lunchtime’. After a brief moment of indignation, we checked the booking and discovered we’d reserved a table for the evening.

By then our organisational skills had deteriorated to the point where we could no longer remember which invitations we’d changed from lunch to dinner and which we’d left alone. On one memorable occasion, a friend arrived expecting lunch and found us floating happily in the swimming pool, with absolutely nothing in the oven. I’m still half-expecting another forgotten guest to appear, wondering where the party is.

We served this coq au vin one evening, and it disappeared remarkably quickly. Coq au vin is a classic French country dish from Burgundy. Traditionally it was made with coq (an old rooster), but these days it’s far more commonly prepared with chicken. It may not have cooled anyone down, but it certainly helped make the celebrations memorable.

Recipe for Coq au Vin (serves 6)

• 2kg chicken (I use a mixture of breast and drumsticks)
• 25g butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 220g bacon
• 15 button onions
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 220g button mushrooms
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Bottle of red wine
• 1 tablespoon flour mixed with tablespoon of butter to form a paste

Place the chicken in a large frying pan with the butter and olive oil and fry on both sides until golden. Remove and place in a casserole dish. Cut the bacon into cubes or strips, add to the frying pan, and finally brown the onions. Add the bacon and onions to the casserole dish and then the garlic, mushrooms, thyme and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, then pour in the red wine over the contents of the casserole dish. Place the lid on the dish and gently simmer for about an hour.

Remove the chicken, bacon, onions and mushrooms from the dish and set aside. Bring the remaining liquid to a fast boil and reduce by about a third. Add the flour/butter paste to the liquid and bring to a boil whisking vigorously until the sauce has thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken, bacon, onions and mushrooms and serve!