Holly's Coq Au Vin Van

Method

1. We only do this first stage when we’re super organised, but you can really notice the difference: season the chicken with salt and pepper and marinade it in the red wine overnight. You can also make the bouquet garni (from the parsley, bay leaves and thyme) and leave it in the marinade too, for extra flavour.
2. If you’ve marinaded the chicken, remove the chicken from the wine and pat it dry - keep the wine and the herbs! If you haven’t marinaded the chicken, then start here:
3. Season (if you haven’t already!) and then sear the chicken (on the bbq for an extra smoky flavour, or on the hob if you don’t have a fire on the go!).
4. Put in the red wine into a different pan and reduce until you’ve got about 2/3s left.
5. Finely chop the carrot and celery. Take the chicken out of the pan to rest and remove any excess chicken fat. Soften the vegetables in the pan and scrape the bottom for all the extra flavour! Add the bouquet garni. We use a cast iron pan and do this stage on the gas ring before moving to the bbq.
6. Stir flour into the vegetable mix and whisk so it doesn’t get lumpy. Add the wine back into the pan slowly to make a sauce, continuing to whisk as you go.
7. Add the chicken back into the pan. At this stage we put the pan onto the edge of the fire and slow cook it for 40 minutes or so, to let the flavours develop, before adding the mushrooms. You can add some streaky bacon for extra flavour, if you like!
8. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes and then serve. We chop some extra parsley to serve on top and find the best fresh baguette we can to mop up all the sauce. Trust me, you’re going to want to mop up the sauce.