Coq au Vin

Ingredients

•One whole chicken deboned or 1kg of chicken pieces (thighs works best)

For the marinade:

◦1 litre (4 cups) red pinot noir wine

◦1 carrot (sliced)

◦1 onion (sliced)

◦1 shallot (sliced)

◦2 garlic cloves (sliced)

◦1 bouquet garni

◦1 tsp of black peppercorn

◦50 ml (1.7 fl oz) of Cognac (I used Courvoisier)

◦20 ml (0.7 fl oz) of peanut or sunflower oil

2For the stock:

◦Carcass of one chicken cut in pieces

◦1 carrot

◦1 onion

◦1 tomato

◦1 bouquet garni (or a bay leaf a few twigs of thyme)

◦500 ml (2 cups) of premium chicken stock (of the shelf)

◦200 ml (6.7 fl oz) of water

For the sauce:

•Marinade used to cook the chicken

•Reduced chicken stock

•50 ml (1.7 fl oz) cognac

For the garnish:

•125 g (4.4 oz) of pearl onions

•Half a tablespoon of butter

•half a tbsp of granulated sugar

•125 g (4.4 oz) of smoke pork belly, bacon or pancetta in cubes

•125 g (4.4 oz) of button mushrooms (you can use other forest mushrooms too)

•4 slices of white bread

•Parsley (to decorate)

•Salt and pepper to season

Directions

Things to prepare the day before:

1Marinate your chicken pieces in red wine by putting chicken pieces in a large bowl with the carrot, onion, shallot, garlic and the bouquet garni. Then pour in the red wine and oil over the chicken.

2Mix with a clotted spoon and cover with a lid and place in the fridge leave for at least 6 hours, turning the pieces of chicken from time to time.

3Make a brown chicken stock or use a good quality readymade brown chicken stock (in liquid form, not stock cubes).

Method:

1Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Do the same with the garnish from the marinade but keep separate from the chicken.

2Filter the marinade through a sieve into a sauce pan and bring the liquid to the boil then reduce the heat. Before the marinade boils remove any scum appearing on the surface.

3Carry out the same process with the chicken stock unless you're using a readymade stock, in which case warm it up in a pan and let it simmer gently while you start cooking your chicken.

4To cook the chicken, add a mix of butter and oil to a casserole dish and brown the chicken pieces on a medium heat until golden, then transfer to a plate.

5In the same casserole dish, cook the vegetables from the marinade for a few minutes before adding the chicken back to the dish. Add a dash of cognac and light it up to 'flambé'. Add the wine marinade and leave to reduce for 10 minutes.

6After 10 minutes, top up with the warm chicken stock until it barely covers the chicken pieces and season lightly with salt and pepper. Put a lid on the casserole dish and cook in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 °C or 392 °F.

7While the chicken is cooking in the oven, prepare the garnish.

8Caramelise the pearl onions: Place the pearl onions into a saucepan and add a tablespoon of butter and half a tablespoon of sugar. Fill with water half-way to the top of the onions and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Leave to simmer on low to medium heat until the water evaporates and the onions are caramelised (they should become light brown in colour). When done keep aside on a plate.

9Fried Mushroom and Bacon: Add a tablespoon of butter into a frying on high heat and wait until the butters start foaming. Add the mushroom cut in quarters and fry until golden brown. Remove and keep on a plate. Next add the bacon cubes to the same pan and fry until lightly crispy. Then return the mushrooms to the pan, mix well before taking the pan off the heat.

10Large croutons: Take a large white bread and cut the crust into triangles. Bring a frying pan to medium-high heat and add a nudge of butter, When the butter starts to foam add the triangles of bread and toast until golden brown on both sides. You may need to add more butter to the pan. When done set aside on a plate.

11When the chicken is cooked after 30 minutes, take the meat out of the dish and set aside on a tray while you finish the sauce. Filter the sauce through a sieve and discard the garnish. Once the sauce has been filtered put it back into your pan. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. To thicken the sauce, add a small amount of beurre manie (equal amount of butter and flour mix together) until you get the desired consistency. Add the bacon and mushroom and a dash of cognac to the sauce and bring to the boil. As soon as the sauce boils it is ready to serve.

12To serve, place the chicken in the pan with the sauce. Add the caramelised onions and croutons on top as a garnish.