Coq au vin with buttered egg noodles

Put three pounds of skin-on drumsticks in a large freezer bag, pour in the bottle of dry red wine, push the air out and seal it.

Marinate in the fridge 20 to 30 minutes, no longer, because the alcohol starts to make the meat mealy.

Lay the drumsticks on a parchment lined sheet tray and save the wine from the bag.

Dry both sides of the drumsticks thoroughly with paper towel, especially underneath.

Roast at 450F for 20 to 30 minutes until lightly coloured and the skin fat is fully rendered.

Slice the bacon into quarter inch lardons.

Peel the pearl onions: trim the stem end and the bottom, slit shallowly from top to bottom, and thumb the outside off.

Cut the carrots into a large dice and quarter the mushrooms.

Set a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, add about two tablespoons of olive oil and all the bacon lardons, and render 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often, until crisp.

Move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate, keeping as much fat in the pot as possible.

Add the quartered mushrooms and a strong pinch of salt and stir to get them frying in the bacon fat.

Add about two tablespoons of water to steam and scrape the glaze off the bottom with a wooden spoon before it burns.

Fry the mushrooms five to six minutes, stirring every minute or so, until softened and just starting to brown.

Add the pearl onions, diced carrots and a strong pinch of salt and sweat three to four minutes until they lose a little moisture; do not caramelize them.

Add 25 grams tomato paste and 25 grams minced garlic and cook until the garlic sizzles and the tomato paste is a rusty red glazing the bottom.

Deglaze with 75 grams of cognac, stirring and scraping the roasty bits off the bottom, and cook until it has evaporated.

Add 40 grams of all purpose flour and stir for a minute or two to get a roux going.

Add all the reserved chicken wine and 300 grams of chicken stock made from 300 grams water, 25 grams roasted chicken base and about three packets of powdered gelatin, spun up to dissolve.

Add the rendered bacon back, bring the pot to a simmer and snug the chicken into the liquid as submerged as possible.

Drizzle in any resting juices from the roasting tray, then add two sprigs of thyme and two bay leaves.

Top with a parchment lid and braise in a 350F oven 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the size of the drumsticks and how hard they were roasted.

Check the chicken is soft and shreddable but still firm; dark meat turns mushy if over-braised.

Move the chicken to a plate to rest and simmer the cooking liquid on the stove about 10 minutes to reduce it by about 30 percent to a velvety sauce.

Taste the sauce for seasoning, then return the chicken to the pot and baste it to glaze.

Boil the egg noodles about seven minutes, reserve about half a cup of starchy water, drain them and put them back on the heat.

For 200 grams of noodles add 50 grams of starchy water and 100 grams of cold butter and stir and toss vigorously to glaze them in a satiny butter sauce.

Serve a drumstick on the buttered noodles with a big spoonful of mushrooms, carrots and pearl onions.