Method

Stock

1. Roast the wings in an oven at 200’c / 390’f until browned and full of flavour

2. Place the olive oil in a large stock pot on a medium heat and brown the bottoms of the cut garlic

3. Once browned increase the heat and place the chicken and the rest of the stock ingredients and stir to combine

4. Pour the water and bring to a boil

5. Once at a rolling boil, cover with a lid and lower the heat to simmer for an hour

6. After an hour strain the stock and keep 350mls for the Coq au Vin and freeze the rest

Coq au Vin

1. In a large heavy based fry pan or dutch oven heat a tbsp of the olive oil and 25g of the unsalted butter

2. Fry the chicken pieces until browned all over. If needed do this in batches. Remove to a plate once browned

3. Add another tbsp of oil and fry the onions, carrots and celery until translucent then season with salt and pepper

4. Pour in the cognac and light this carefully with a match or torch to get rid of the alcohol content

5. Add the tomato paste and stir for a minute until it has cooked

6. Place the chicken back into the pan along with it’s juices left on the plate

7. Then add the wine and stock to cover the chicken. If it isn’t enough to cover then add some more of the stock you’ve made

8. Place the garlic and herbs and then bring to the boil. Once at a boil, cover and lower the heat to a simmer for 45 minutes

9. In a non stick fry pan on medium heat add the bacon lardons and cook until browned on all sides. Carefully remove to a plate with a paper towel on it being careful to leave the bacon fat in the pan

10. Then add another 25g of the butter and the onions and fry until browned and cooked through, roughly about 10 minutes

11. Add the mushrooms top sides down and cook until browned then set aside

12. In a bowl combined the remaining butter and flour to make a paste

13. Once the chicken is cooked remove it from the pan and then strain the sauce from the herbs and vegetables and pour the sauce back into the pan. The herbs and vegetables can be thrown away as they have given all their flavour

14. Put the sauce back on the heat and simmer on a high heat until reduced by a 1/4 then add the flour paste and whisk until glossy and has thickened

15. Place the chicken back into the sauce and coat with the sauce

16. Add the bacon, onions and mushrooms and cook for five minutes

17. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the parsley and serve

Ingredients

Stock

• 12 chicken wings

• 1 tsp olive oil

• Head of garlic cut in half

• 1 onion roughly chopped

• 2 celery sticks roughly chopped

• 1 carrot roughly chopped

• Bouquet garni - comprising some parsley, rosemary, thyme sprigs, chives and a bay leaf wrapped in the outside of a leek and tied up with a chive

• 2 litres of filtered water

Coq au Vin

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 75g unsalted butter

• 4 chicken legs

• 4 chicken thighs

• 1 onion finely chopped

• 1 carrot finely chopped

• 1 celery stick finely chopped

• 1/2 tsp salt + pepper

• 60mls cognac

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 600mls full bodied red wine - I used a Burgundy red

• 350mls of the chicken stock above. The rest of the stock can be saved and kept in the fridge for 3 days or the 3 months in the freezer

• 2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed

• 4 sprigs of thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• 150g bacon lardons cut into 1 cm pieces

• 12 shallots peeled

• 250g button mushrooms

• Salt and pepper to season

• 25g all purpose plain flour

• Handful of chopped parsley

Serves 4 people