Coq au Vin Blanc

Enjoy this lighter and brighter take on a French favourite, typically made with red wine.

SERVES 4

 2tbsp olive oil

 1 large chicken (approx 1.5 kg), divided into eight pieces (you can ask a butcher to do this for you)  1 heaped tbsp plain flour

 1 bottle dry white wine

 500ml chicken stock

 1 large onion

 1 large carrot

 100g celeriac

 10 sprigs of thyme

 1 bay leaf

 300g small bunched carrots

(leafy tops on)

 250g small shallots

 100g streaky bacon

 200g small field mushrooms

 30g butter

 Salt and freshly ground black pepper  1-2 pinches of sugar 1

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan (with a lid). Fry the chicken pieces – in batches if necessary – all over for about 10min until golden brown. Dust with the flour.

2 Add a splash of wine to the pan, reduce, then pour in the remaining wine and the chicken stock and bring to the boil.

3 Peel and coarsely dice the onion, carrot and celeriac. Add to the pan along with five sprigs of the thyme and the bay leaf and season to taste. Cook for 1 hour, covered, over a low heat.

4 Meanwhile, peel the bunched carrots, leaving some of the leafy tops on. Lightly blanch the carrots in boiling salted water for about 2min, then remove, rinse in cold water and drain.

5 Peel the shallots. Cut the streaky bacon into thin strips and clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth.

6 Heat the butter in a large saucepan and fry the shallots for about 8min. Add the bacon and mushrooms and sauté for another 5min. Season to taste, cover and keep warm.

7 After 1 hour, remove the chicken pieces from the sauce and set aside, covered.

8 Pass the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve into a roasting pan. Add the mushroom mixture into the roasting pan, bring to the boil and reduce slightly until thickened.

9 Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Add the chicken pieces and carrots to the sauce and heat through for 5-10min.

10 Serve garnished with leaves from the remaining sprigs of thyme.