Saturday night worthy or a Sunday roast alternative, Coq au Vin is a great rustic family pleaser. Some may argue it’s a tad old fashioned but there’s a reason why this classic is still knocked up in family kitchens today. Depending on whether you’re in a hurry or not, you can pre marinade the chicken in the red wine once it’s been brought to the boil & has cooled. This gives the chicken a dark colour. You could also skip this stage. I always do (surprised?!) but don’t tell anyone French that I said that!

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If you have time, bring the wine to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes so the alcohol burns off. Let it cool & then add your chicken portions & shallots. Leave to marinade for a few hours or up to 24 hours in the fridge. Remove the chicken portions & shake gently to dry.

You could skip stage one & crack on with stage 2….

Heat a pan, add a lug of oil & your chicken portions skin side down. Colour until the skin is crisp & set aside.

Add the mushrooms to the pan, colour for a minute & set aside.

Now add the bacon to colour. Add the shallots or onions & garlic. Again colour for a few minutes.

Stir in the flour then add a few ladles of the wine. Stir to remove lumps. Continue stirring in the rest of the wine.

Add the chicken portions back to the pan, skin side up, along with all the herbs apart from the parsley.

Cover and cook in a 180 degree oven for half an hour if you have already reduced the wine at the first stage. Otherwise put the dish in the oven at 180 degrees for an hour so that the alcohol can burn off.

Add the reserved mushrooms to the pan & return to the oven for another 20 minutes.

Finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley. Serve with mash or roasties & green veg.