You Will Need:

Main Dish

1 x 750 ml bottle medium bodied red wine such as Merlot or Pinotage
2 cups (500 ml) water
2 T (30 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Flavour Stock Powder or 2 x 25 g Ina Paarman’s Liquid Chicken Stock
10 sprigs of fresh parsley plus 2 T of chopped parsley for later
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Reduced Salt Garlic & Herb Seasoning
4 T (60 ml) butter
250 g streaky bacon, cubed
300 g baby onions, peeled
12 - 15 bone in skinless chicken thighs
Ina Paarman's Chicken Spice
2 T (30 ml) flour
250 g portobellini mushrooms, thickly sliced
3 T (45 ml) Ina Paarman's Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

Ina’s Tip

Dip the handle of a wooden spoon into the red wine mixture before starting to boil - mark the watermark with a pencil - keep testing with the spoon until the wine comes halfway up to the original watermark.

Method:

Reserve 2 T of the wine to add at the end, pour the rest into a heavy based saucepan together with the water, Stock Powder, parsley and Reduced Salt Garlic & Herb Seasoning. Boil open over a high heat for about 15 - 20 minutes until reduced by half. This will remove the harsh wine taste and evaporate the alcohol. In the meantime add one tablespoon of butter to a large heavy fry pan and sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep on one side. Pour out about half of the bacon fat for browning the chicken later. Add the onions to the remaining fat in the pan and shake them over medium heat until nicely browned on the outside but not cooked through. Keep on one side. Season the chicken lightly with Chicken Spice and dip and shake in the flour. Lightly brown the chicken pieces in two batches until golden. Remove and keep on one side. Lastly sauté the mushrooms in the same pan, in another two tablespoons of the butter. Add Tomato Pesto to the mushrooms. Place the sautéed onions, mushrooms, chicken and bacon in a heavy casserole or saucepan. Pour the reduced wine stock over. Pre-prepare to this stage and refrigerate. Remove the dish from the fridge. Adjust the oven rack to one slot below the middle and preheat the oven to 180 °C. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or simmer slowly on top of the stove. Stir the remaining butter into the dish, add the reserved wine and sprinkle chopped parsley over. Serve with fresh bread or noodles.