Coq au vin

Marinate the jointed chicken in red wine, cognac, carrot, shallot, onion and bouquet garni overnight, more than 12 hours.

Pass the cold stock through a sieve, discarding the bones, and set it on low heat to reduce.

Lift the meat out of the marinade, remove all the garnish and dry every piece thoroughly on kitchen towels so it fries rather than boils.

Filter the marinade, dry the vegetables from it, and set the marinade to reduce alongside the stock.

Skim the scum off the marinade as it comes to the boil, then reduce it 10 to 15 minutes.

Skim the stock, whisk in a few grams of beurre manie made from equal weights of butter and flour, and boil until slightly thickened; check it on the back of a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 200C -- he states 390 Fahrenheit alongside it.

Colour the meat in butter and oil, skin side first, a few minutes a side, and reserve it on a tray.

Fry the dried garnish 2 minutes, return the meat, crank the heat high and flambe with cognac.

Pour in all the reduced wine and reduce slightly on medium heat.

Top up with the thickened stock, add the bouquet garni, put the lid on and cook in the oven at 200C for 30 minutes.

For the garnish, caramelise the pearl onions in about a teaspoon of butter with half a tablespoon of sugar and a little water, not enough to cover, on medium heat under a lid.

Flash fry the pancetta and reserve it; fry the mushrooms in the same pan until golden, return the pancetta and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.

Fry croutons for decoration, optionally.

Lift the meat out, discard the bouquet garni and the cooked-out garnish, and filter the sauce into another pan. Rest the meat 5 minutes.

Taste the sauce for salt and pepper, boil it, and check it coats a spoon.

Add the fresh garnish, a dash of cognac, and bring back to the boil. Serve in the pot or plate it piece by piece.