Coq au Vin (Chicken with Wine)

Ingredients

1 chicken cut up

1 1/4 pints red wine

1 oz butter

1 T oil

8 oz. unsmoked bacon

16 button onions

2 cloves garlic crushed

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

8 oz small dark mushrooms

1 rounded T softened butter and 1 level T flour -make a paste

salt and fresh pepper

chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Procedure

Melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces skin side down until they are nicely golden; then turn and fry the other side. Do not over crowd the pan. Place the partially cooked chicken in a large casserole big enough to place in a single layer and be covered by liquid.

Cook the bacon and then cut it up into pieces and add it to the chicken. Brwon the onions a little and add them too. Next place the crushed cloves of garlic and the sprigs of thyme among the chicken pieces, season with fresh pepper and just a little salt and pop in the bay leaves. Pour in the wine, put a lid on the pan and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is tender. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the mushrooms and stir them into the liquid.

Remove the chicken and bacon, onion, and mushrooms and place them in a warmed serving dish. Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprig. Now bring the left over liquid to a boil and reduce by about 1/3. Next add the butter and the flour paste to the liquid. Bring to a boil whisking all the time until the sauce has thickened, then serve this sauce over the chicken. If you like sprinkle some chopped parsley over the chicken.