Coq au Vin

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs
• 150 g smoked bacon lardons
• 12 small shallots, peeled and left whole
• 250 g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 25 g plain flour
• 600 ml red burgundy
• 300 ml chicken stock
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 30 g butter
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Render the bacon

   Cook the lardons in a heavy casserole until crisp, then lift out, leaving the fat behind.

   8 min

2. Brown the chicken

   Season the thighs and brown them skin-side down in the bacon fat until deeply golden. Do not move them until they release on their own.

   12 min

3. Colour the garnish

   Add the butter and brown the shallots and mushrooms, then set them aside with the bacon — they go back at the end so they keep their shape.

   10 min

4. Make the roux

   Stir the garlic and flour into the fat and cook for two minutes to lose the raw taste.

5. Braise

   Pour in the wine and stock, add the herbs, return the chicken, and simmer gently, covered, until the meat is falling from the bone.

   1 h

6. Finish

   Return the bacon, shallots and mushrooms for the last ten minutes. Skim the fat, reduce if loose, and scatter with parsley.

   10 min