COQ AU VIN BLANC

SERVES 4

● 1 large poularde (fattened chicken), approx 1.5 kg, divided into eight pieces

● 2 tbsp olive oil

● 1 heaped tbsp plain flour

● 1 bottle of dry white wine

● 500ml chicken stock

● 1 large onion

● 1 large carrot

● 100g celeriac

● 10 sprigs of thyme

● 2 bay leaves

● 300g small bunched carrots

● 250g small shallots

● 100g streaky bacon

● 200g small field mushrooms

● 30g butter

● 1–2 pinches of sugar

● Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1. Rinse the poularde pieces in cold water and pat until completely dry. Heat the oil in a large roasting pan. Fry the poularde pieces – possibly in portions – all over for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Dust with the flour. Deglaze with a little of the wine, reduce, then pour in the remaining wine and the chicken stock, and bring to the boil. Peel and coarsely dice the onion, carrot and celeriac. Add the onion, carrot, celeriac, five sprigs of thyme and the bay leaf to the meat and stock, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 hour in a covered roasting pan over a low heat. 2. Meanwhile, wash the bunched carrots, leaving some of the leaves, and peel them. Lightly blanch the carrots in boiling salted water for about 2 minutes, then remove, rinse in cold water and drain. Peel the shallots. Cut the bacon into thin strips. Clean the mushrooms and rub dry with a dish towel. Heat the butter in a large saucepan and fry the shallots for about 8 minutes. Add the bacon and mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes. Season to taste with pepper, cover and keep warm. 3. Remove the poularde pieces from the sauce, cover and keep warm. Pass the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve and into a saucepan, thoroughly squeezing out the residue in the sieve. Pour the sauce and the mushroom mixture with stock into the roasting pan, bring to the boil and reduce slightly, until it is thick enough. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Add the poularde pieces and bunched carrots to the sauce, and heat for 5–10 minutes. Serve garnished with leaves from the remaining sprigs of thyme.