Recipes

Chosen from From Nature to Plate by Tom Kitchin, this recipe for coq au vin is a winter classic. He writes "On a really cold winter's night, I can't think of anything I would rather eat than a beautifully cooked coq au vin and some delicious home-made mashed potatoes. Served with a good bottle of red wine, coq au vin is a highlight of my winter cooking."

Serves 4

    1 free-range or corn-fed chicken, cut up into legs, breasts, wings and thighs
    Vegetable loil
    4 rashers of bacon, chopped
    2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2cm dice
    1 onion, peeled and chopped
    3 celery sticks, chopped
    1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
    100g seasoned flour
    1 bottle red wine
    250ml veal stock

For the Marinade

    2 carrots, peeled and chopped
    1 onion, peeled and chopped
    3 celery sticks, chopped
    1 bouquet garni
    1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
    
For the Garnish

    200g button mushrooms
    4 leeks
    100g bacon, cut into strips
    1 tbsp olive oil
    Knob of butter

Method

To marinade the chicken put the chicken in a large bowl with the marinade vegetables and herbs. Cover with wine and leave to marinate for 24 hours. Afterwards drain the chicken and pat it dry with kitchen towel. Discard the marinade wine and vegetables, as they will have become bitter.

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat a tsp of vegetable oil over medium heat and add the bacon, carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Cook until the bacon is crisp and the vegetables golden.

Meanwhile heat a tbsp of vegetable oil in another pan. Dust the chicken pieces with the seasoned flour and sear in the hot oil until golden brown all over. Add the seared chicken to the vegetables and pour in enough red wine to cover. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the veal stock and bring back to the boil. Again, reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook until the chicken is very tender and begins to flake - 45-50 minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and pass the sauce through a fine sieve. Set the vegetables aside. Pour the sauce back into the pan and reduce until it coats the back of the spoon. Put the chicken and vegetables back in the sauce ready to serve.

For the garnish, heat another pan and add the oil and butter. Add the mushrooms, baby leek and the bacon lardons, season and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Place some mashed potato on each plate and then the coq au vin and sauce. Add some of the mushroom, leek and the bacon garnish and serve.