Red wine chicken pot
Serves 4 Preparation time 50 minutes Cooking time 1hour
You need
• 1 tablespoon each oil and butter
• 200 g bacon, sliced into pieces
• 4 each chicken drumsticks and thighs
• 2 tablespoons cake flour
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 8 shallots or small red onions, peeled and halved
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• sprig of thyme
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 300 g mixed mushrooms, chopped
• 12 sage leaves
Here’s how
1 Heat the oil and butter in a pot and fry the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot and set aside, but retain the fat. Dust the chicken with the flour and season with salt and pepper. Fry until golden brown.
2 Add the shallots to the pot and fry for a few minutes. Add the cloves of garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Pour the red wine into the pot. If you have a long match, flambé the wine. It’s important to reduce the alcohol for a few minutes or it will overpower the other flavours. Add the stock and simmer for about 40 minutes uncovered, or until the chicken is tender and the sauce smooth.
3 When the chicken has about 10 minutes of cooking left, melt the extra butter in a pan and fry the mushrooms until brown. Add the sage leaves and a pinch of salt. Add the mushrooms and bacon to the chicken pot and serve.
TIP If you don’t mind a pink dish and want a richer flavour, add half a cup of cream and cook it through just before you add the mushrooms. The sauce – with or without cream – is great with mashed potatoes and a French loaf.