Coq Au Vin with Crispy Chicken Skin

SERVES 4
TAKES 1 hour 45 minutes, plus overnight marinating

A classic French dish with a twist of crispy chicken skin for crunch and texture. A wonderful recipe, using a good amount of the whole chicken, making for another cost effective meal. Our 100 day or 70 day chickens will make this recipe go a long way and the darker leg meat is fabulous for braising and stands up to the strong flavours of wine, garlic and cognac. A bit of a labour of love but trust us when we say, it is more than worth it for the reactions you shall receive from your loved ones once they are presented with this impressive offering.

1. The night before, place all the marinade ingredients into a bowl, along with the chicken legs and thighs. Massage well into the chicken to ensure all pieces are nicely coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. The day of cooking, remove the chicken, carrots and onions from the marinade, pat them dry and set aside.
3. Strain the wine marinade into a bowl, discarding the bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme. Pour into a saucepan and place on a medium heat until it has reduced by half and set aside for later.
4. Pre heat your oven to 180C fan.
5. In a dutch oven or a deep oven-proof pot, pour in 1 tbsp olive oil and set on a medium heat, add in the smoked lardons and fry until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy, with a slotted spoon, remove the bacon, leaving the fat. Set aside on some kitchen towel to drain.
6. Place the chicken pieces into the hot fat and brown on all sides, remove and set aside.
7. Add in the marinated carrots and onions and fry for 5 minutes until softened, add in the garlic and continue to cook for 3 minutes until smelling fragrant but not burnt.
8. Pour in the cognac to deglaze the pan, scraping any of the gnarly bits from the bottom, as this is flavour. Add in the reduced marinade stock from earlier, along with the browned chicken, chicken stock, the lardons, the fresh thyme sprigs and black pepper. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer then remove from the heat. Clamp a lid on and place in the oven for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
9. To make the crispy chicken skin, place the skins on a tray lined with greaseproof paper, spreading them out as thinly as possible. Cover with another layer of greaseproof, then weigh down with another tray. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, after which time they should have turned golden and crispy. Remove and place the chicken skins on some kitchen towel to drain any excess fat. Season with a little salt when cooled.
10. In a skillet or wide frying pan, heat the butter and olive oil on a medium heat, add in the peeled shallots along with the sugar and salt. Turn the heat down to low and place a lid on top, cook for approx. 10 minutes until the onions begin to caramelise, shake the pan every few minutes to ensure all sides are colouring. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add in the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until softened, remove and set aside.
11. Remove the pot from the oven and take the chicken and vegetables out, setting aside in a bowl. Remove the thyme sprigs as best you can, place on a medium heat and bring the sauce to a simmer once again, re-whisk the cornflour slurry and pour into the sauce, stirring for a few minutes to help thicken.
12. Add the chicken and vegetables back into the pot, along with the caramelised onions and softened mushrooms. Stir well to combine and let it gently simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let rest for a further 5 minutes.
13. Serve in bowls, crush the crispy chicken skins into pieces and crumble over the top, along with a scattering of the chopped parsley. Serve with your choice of sides, we like ours with creamy mash potato. Enjoy!

For the Marinade:

• 3kg chicken, portioned into legs, thighs and skin on, boneless breasts (ask your butcher to do this – you only need the skins from the breasts so store the rest in the fridge or freezer for a future meal. The carcass and bones will also be wonderful to make a stock/soup at another stage).
• 500ml red wine (we used a pinot noir)
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 large white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced into disks
• 4 sprigs of thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 tsp salt

For the Stew:

• Olive oil, for frying
• 250g smoked bacon lardons
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 200ml cognac
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tbsp corn flour with 2 tbsp water, mixed into a slurry

For the Garnish:

• 8 small shallot onions, peeled and left whole
• 600g chestnut mushrooms
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chicken skins, removed from the breasts
• Small handful of parsley, roughly chopped