Traditional Coq au Vin is a centuries old dish and a staple in French cuisine. It's an incredibly hearty and comforting dish built with a bit of time and layer upon layer of flavor.

The foundational ingredients are all browned in batches first, then red wine and seasoned broth are added while scraping up that flavorful fond (the browned bits at the bottom of the pan), then it's all slowly braised over a low heat until everything is tender and infused with rich flavor. From there the sauce is thickened with a roux (flour and butter mixture), and the bacon is added back at the end to maintain its crispness.

It's such a memorable dish with full bodied flavor. There's a reason it's become a world renowned dish!

Serve it with one of the many options listed below. I would say you can never go wrong with mashed potatoes to complement its rustic, homestyle goodness.

What is Beef Bourguignon?

Beef Bourguignon (which is pronounced beef boar-gin-yaan) is a signature French stew made up chunks of rich beef braised in a deeply flavored red wine based sauce, along with aromatic vegetables such as pearl onions and browned mushrooms. Often times it includes another rich meat such as pork (bacon!), and it also includes plenty of herbs for complementary fresh flavor.

It is a humble, rustic style dish yet somehow at the same time if seems luxurious with such sophisticated flavor. It's creates a main dish worthy of a holiday celebration!

Wondering what to serve with Beef Bourguignon? It's best paired with mashed potatoes or a hearty artisan bread because there's so much of that complex gravy-like sauce to be soaked up by pairing with something so appropriately fitting.

Summery Grilled Chicken Salad

This ultimate grilled chicken salad is piled high with all the best ingredients, each one adding to it's well balanced fusion of flavors and satisfying variety of textures.

And I think you'll appreciate that the dressing also doubles as a chicken marinade so you won't need to make a separate seasoning for the grilled chicken.

This salad is a perfectly filling, ideal entree for a lunch get together but it also makes for an exceptional dinner salad as well.

You can also easily adjust it to use up what you have by substituting different vegetables or create a new flavor profile by using different fresh herbs in the dressing (basil or cilantro would be welcomed options).

If you are looking for a salad people will remember this is it! It includes that trio people just can't get enough of - chicken, bacon and avocado.

And here everything is highlighted by an unapologetically lemony dressing to really make it sing. It will get compliments all around!

Chilled and Refreshing Cold Pea Salad

Who doesn't love that bacon, cheddar, ranch combo? Even here in this pea salad it works wonders and really builds a basic salad into a memorable side dish.

It's an excellent option for an Easter dinner to serve with a honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, and the best homemade dinner rolls. Then for dessert carrot cake of course!

This pea salad is a much tastier option than serving those frozen peas plain, it's worth the bit of extra effort especially for a holiday celebration or weekend dinner.

It has a tempting blend of textures and well rounded flavor with it's sweet pea freshness, salty bacon, toasty almonds, the depth from the cheese, and a rich creamy dressing to polish it off. It's a salad fit for a feast!

This cozy soup is everything you love about a cheese laden baked potato and more. You get all those layers of flavor built into the goodness of a soul warming, homestyle, sip-able soup.

This soup recipe begins with actual baked potatoes. Many recipes will just go the route of chopping and boiling the potatoes but I prefer the baked method so we can skip the step of peeling and chopping the potatoes, and rather just scoop the interiors out after baking and mash them into the soup. Plus it just feels more authentic if we are going to call it "baked potato soup" lets use the real deal.

The potato skins are chopped up into small pieces (after baking) and then pan fried for extra crispiness. They are a favorite ingredient to the soup among family members, everyone just likes to eat them on their own because they are so good!

Just be sure to load up on all of those various toppings when serving the soup as it will add a lot of the flavor. And don't drain the fat from the bacon as this also builds up flavor and adds richness to the soup.

Our Favorite Apple Salad Recipe!

Who doesn't love a salad that includes fresh seasonal ingredients? Many of us are baking with those delicious seasonal fall apples (making apple crisp, apple pie or apple cobbler) but those juicy apples are also such great addition to savory recipes (like this autumn sheet pan chicken dinner) and side salads like this.

Apples are the crowing star of the show in this salad and they are highlighted beautifully by the other ingredients like the tangy feta and rich smoky bacon. Bacon makes everything better though right?

This salad is simple enough to be an addition to weeknight meal but it's also delicious enough to be served at a holiday gathering or a weekend party.

If you want to make it a main dish just add some chopped rotisserie chicken to it for more protein or consider tossing in a grain like farro, barley or even seedy tri color quinoa.

So much to love about this colorful, vibrant, sweet and savory salad!

Chicken Noodle Soup with Corn and Bacon!

Can you add corn to chicken noodle soup? Absolutely and it makes such a delicious soup!

That's just what you get in this soup recipe. It's like chicken noodle soup upgraded with fresh juicy corn, plus we dot it in some bacon and blend in some cream for good measure.

It's also similar to a chowder, and it's adaptable to what you have on hand (as usual see ideas below). For instance you can replace bacon with ham or make this Pennsylvania Dutch style with homemade mini dumplings called rivels in place of noodles (making the soup completely from scratch!).

Pair it with a slice of buttered homemade bread and a simple garden fresh salad with a homemade herby ranch for the most comforting homestyle dinner!

Club Chicken Pasta Salad

This is a family favorite pasta salad! It's similar to the taste of a club chicken sandwich meets a ranch salad. In other words it's completely irresistible!

It has all the best flavors including the unmistakable taste of dill, sweet corn, vibrant tomatoes, crave-able cheese, meaty bacon, bone-in cooked chicken, and a rich tangy dressing. And if you want one more summery mix-in you can also include in a buttery avocado.

It makes an extra large batch which is perfectly fitting for a summer cook out of about 12 people, but the recipe can easily be halved as well for a smaller family lunch or dinner (amounts are included at the bottom of the recipe).

Though you'll find it also keeps well in the fridge so you may opt to just make the full batch and have the extra for lunch that's ready to go the following few days.

This chicken pasta salad is chilled and refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day. Plus it's such a tasty upgrade from traditional pasta salad. So much delicious goodness in every serving!

Fresh Green Beans Almondine

Traditional Green Bean Almondine is good but we like to go beyond simply good and upgrade that to exceptional around here.

In this vegetable side dish you get a delicious fusion of flavors and textures with tender crisp green beans, lively garlic, salty bacon, crunchy almonds, sharp parmesan, and tart lemon.

It turns an ordinary vegetable into something with crowd-pleasing flavor that will be the talk of the meal.

People may very well be saying "I never knew green beans could be so delicious!"

And you'll be happy with the fact that it really is quite easy to make. Try this at your next holiday get together or for a fancy Sunday supper.

The BEST Smothered Chicken

While this may not be a traditional smothered chicken like you'll find in the South, this is my idea of something even better!

It's easy to prepare and it has the most delicious blend of fresh flavors. It's like a BLT sandwich transformed into a crave-able chicken dish.

One change here however is that we do substitute spinach for the traditional lettuce, the "L" of BLT. This is because lettuce wouldn't hold up well to cooking and doesn't have near as much flavor as spinach. Soggy lettuce, no thanks.

I'm nearly certain this is one of those entrees that will wow your family and friends. That's basically a given right? Because it includes bacon!

I recommend pairing this with pasta of sorts, we like this lemon orzo which would make a delicious base for chicken blt bowls. Then also steamed asparagus is a nutritious and colorful pairing.