Ingredients

6 Essex bird chicken legs
250g of quality Wick’s Manor bacon (thick cut)
6 peeled and chopped shallots
1 large carrot (peeled and chopped)
1 leek (trimmed and roughly chopped)
red wine
3-4 tbsp olive oil
Maldon sea salt and black pepper
1 head of garlic (halved across)
A few sprigs of thyme
A bay leaf
1 tsp of white peppercorns
75ml of brandy
75ml of port
A splash of sherry vinegar
500ml of chicken stock
500ml of veal or beef stock
To garnish
100ml of thick cut/chunky lardons
A braised baby onion
Salted, wafer-thin toasted bread
crisp chicken skin

Method

To prepare:
Put the chicken legs, bacon and chopped vegetables into a bowl and completely cover with the red wine. Leave in a fridge, ideally for 24 hours.
Strain the wine off and keep for later. Keep the bacon and vegetables to one side, but dry off the chicken by patting with a kitchen towel.
Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish. Season the legs with salt and pepper and fry on each side until a rich, golden brown. Set aside. If needed, add a touch more oil and then add the vegetables and bacon. Sweat them off over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until they soften. Add the garlic and herbs with the peppercorns and continue to fry.
Deglaze the dish with the sherry vinegar, Port and brandy and reduce to a sticky glaze. Now pour the two stocks and saved wine in and add the two chicken legs. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the legs are cooked through and skim off the scum that forms on the top. Remove the legs and strain the stock through a sieve and put into a clean, wide pan. Boil it up vigorously, reducing it to make a rich, syrupy sauce.
Saute the lardons separately until crisp. When ready, return the legs to the sauce and add the braised onion and lardons. Warm through and divide equally onto serving plates.
Garnish with thyme sprigs and the salted, wafer thin bread and chicken skin

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