I had two large chicken legs in the freezer and couldn’t quite decide what to do with them, so made this quick version of Coq au Vin.  To make the dish as the French would, can be quite lengthy, but this version is easy and tastes great.  You can use thighs or legs, but I would not advise breasts as they dry out too much.

Serves 2 (but can be doubled up)

Ingredients

2 chicken legs

20 g butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 red onion, peeled and sliced

2 rashers streaky bacon chopped

125g button mushrooms

Pinch of dried thyme

150ml red wine

200 ml chicken stock

75ml double cream

1 tbsp. chopped parsley

Sea salt and ground pepper

Method

1. Melt 10g butter in a frying pan.  Season the chicken legs, brown on both sides and place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30mins until the juices run clear.  As always, I would recommend a food thermometer.
2. Heat remaining butter with the oil in a flameproof casserole, add garlic, onions and bacon and sautee for 5 minutes.  Then add the mushrooms and thyme and sautee for a further 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil, continue boiling for a further 5 minutes until reduced by half.  Pour in the stock and bring back to boil until reduced by half again.  Check seasoning
4. Bring the sauce back to a simmer and add the cream.
5. Put chicken into the sauce, simmer for a further 10 mins and serve with chopped parsley.

Serving suggestions:  I served with lovely creamy mashed potatoes