Food

Coq au Vin

The traditional stew from rural France.

1 x 5 lb (2.25 kg) whole chicken, cut into 8 joints
1 75 cl bottle of red wine
25 g butter
1 tablespoon oil
225 g unsmoked streaky bacon, de-rinded and cut into small pieces
16 shallots
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
225 g open mushrooms
1 rounded tablespoon softened butter and 1 level tablespoon plain flour, combined to make a paste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley, chopped and washed to serve
You will also need a large flameproof casserole, wide and shallow enough to take the chicken joints in one layer.

Melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan, and fry the chicken joints, skin side down, until they are nicely golden; then turn them and colour the other side. Remove the joints from the pan with a draining spoon, and place them in a large flameproof casserole dish in 1 layer
Brown the bacon in the frying pan used for the chicken then add to the casserole dish. Do the same with the button onions, also cooking until just browned, then add them to the casserole dish too.
Place the crushed cloves of garlic , sprigs of thyme and bay leaves among the chicken pieces then season with freshly ground pepper and some salt. Pour in the wine, put a lid on the pot and simmer gently over a medium heat for 45-60 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. During the last 15 minutes of the cooking, add the mushrooms.
Remove the chicken, bacon, onions and mushrooms and place them on a warmed serving dish and keep warm, discarding the bay leaves and thyme.
Bring the liquid in the casserole dish to a fast boil and reduce it by about one third. Once reduced, add the butter and flour paste to the liquid and bring back to the boil, whisking all the time until the sauce has thickened.
Serve the chicken with the sauce poured over it, sprinkle with fresh parsley. Enjoy with a glass of Crozes Hermitage Red.

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