Coq au Vin (Chicken Braised in Red Wine)

Ingredients

For 4 portions

• 🍗 1,000g chicken thigh, without skin (raw, boneless)
• 🥓 150g smoked bacon
• 🍷 750ml wine, table, red
• 🍄 250g mushrooms
• 🧅 200g pearl onions
• 🥕 2 medium carrots
• 🧄 3 cloves garlic
• 🌿 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 🥫 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 🌾 2 Tbsp flour
• 🧈 30g butter
• 🏺 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 🍗 1 cube chicken stock cube
• 🥤 250ml tap water
• 🧂 1 Tsp salt
• 🌿 0.5 Tsp black pepper
• 🥔 800g potato
• 🌿 10g parsley

Method

1. Season the chicken thighs (bone-in pieces are best) with the salt and pepper and toss in the flour, shaking off the excess. Peel the baby onions, slice the carrots into thick rounds and halve the mushrooms.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole over medium heat. Fry the bacon lardons for 5 minutes until golden; lift out and keep the fat.
3. Brown the chicken in the fat in two batches, 4–5 minutes per side, until deep golden. Set aside with the bacon.
4. Add half the butter, the baby onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes until lightly coloured. Stir in the crushed garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
5. Pour in the wine, scraping up the browned bits, and boil for 2 minutes. Add the water, crumbled stock cube and thyme, then return the chicken and bacon.
6. Cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the chicken is very tender and coming away from the bone.
7. Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms in the remaining butter for 5 minutes until golden, and boil the potatoes for 15–20 minutes until tender.
8. Add the mushrooms to the pot and simmer uncovered for 10–15 minutes until the sauce has reduced and coats a spoon. Remove the thyme stalks and taste for salt.
9. Serve with the potatoes, scattered with chopped parsley.