Coq au Vin

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.8kg), cut into 8 pieces
• 750ml full-bodied red wine (Burgundy or Côtes du Rhône)
• 150g thick-cut bacon, cut into lardons
• 250g cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 200g pearl onions, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 250ml good chicken stock
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to serve

Recipe

1. Pat the chicken pieces completely dry and season generously on all sides with salt and pepper. Place in a large bowl, pour the wine over, and add the thyme and bay leaf. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or overnight for the deepest flavor.

2. Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels — dry chicken browns, wet chicken steams. Reserve the marinade. In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon lardons until golden and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

3. Working in batches to avoid crowding, brown the chicken pieces in the bacon fat for 4 minutes per side until deeply golden. Remove and set aside with the bacon.

4. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the pearl onions and cook until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to coat. Pour in the reserved marinade and the chicken stock, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot — this is where the flavor lives.

5. Return the chicken and bacon to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook over low heat for 45–55 minutes until the chicken is fully tender and pulling away from the bone.

6. Add the mushrooms in the last 15 minutes of cooking. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasoning. Swirl in the butter off the heat for a glossy, velvety sauce. Serve scattered with parsley alongside crusty bread or buttered egg noodles.