Braised chicken with tomato and chorizo

Trim the stem end off the tinned whole peeled tomatoes with a little knife, and take the seeds out if you like.

Mix the plain flour with the smoked paprika in a tray.

Season the chicken pieces on a plate, not in the dish: a good layer of salt flakes and a grind of pepper on each side.

Coat the chicken lightly in the flour and paprika on both sides and tap the excess off. The flour dries a wet chicken, helps thicken the sauce and gives the crispiness.

Preheat the oven to 190C fan forced with the shelf in the middle.

Heat one to two tablespoons of olive oil in a lidded oven-proof casserole pot until it flows like water.

Brown the chicken on all sides over medium heat, starting with the little wings as a temperature test. Do not use high heat -- paprika burns and turns bitter -- and aim for a light crust, not a heavily browned chicken.

Take the browned pieces out onto the plate.

Hold the breasts back: they cook in 15 to 20 minutes at most and go in near the end. Braise the drumsticks, thighs and wings first.

Add the onions and a little extra oil on gentle heat and scrape the caramelised juices off the bottom; the onions sweat and render water that mingles with them.

Cook the onions a good five minutes plus on medium heat without burning anything.

Deglaze the stubborn hard bits with the Madeira, or white wine, without needing to raise the heat.

Raise to medium high and add the garlic and the two bay leaves.

Let it dry a little, then add all the chorizo and keep cooking.

The onions must be fully cooked before the tomato goes in -- crunchy onions destroy the dish, and onions take up to 15 minutes.

Deglaze again with all the tomatoes and reduce the heat.

Add a little more Madeira to cut the acidity of the tomato -- it is sweet, so it does the job sugar usually does.

Taste the preparation.

Return the browned chicken, minus the breasts, and coat it gently in the sauce; go easy on the salt because the chicken is already seasoned.

Add up to half a glass of water if it looks dry. The liquid should sit halfway up the meat and must never cover it.

Put the lid on and braise in the oven 30 to 45 minutes.

Roll the reserved breasts into the sauce, lid back on, and return to the oven 15 minutes.

Serve out of the pot into a serving dish; rice is the partner for this dish.