Oven-Baked Chicken with Rosemary, Shallot and Red Wine Sauce.

For the main course of my 100% British menu, I did Oven-Baked chicken in a Red Wine, Rosemary and Shallot sauce, Roast Portabello Mushrooms and Spring Greens in chilli oil. Simple, yummy, anyone can do it!

For the chicken you'll need,

Ingredients (for 4):

- 4 legs of chicken 

- two fat sprigs of fresh rosemary

- 4 fat cloves of garlic

- one large chopped shallot

- 2 glasses of red plonk (wine)

- hot water

- mixed dried herbs 

- freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

- olive oil

Method:

Heat your oven to gas mark 7

Line a thick large pan with oil and gently fry the chopped shallots and a large sprig of rosemary until the shallots soften. Meanwhile lightly score the chicken legs and rub with salt, pepper and herbs, sticking in some finely sliced garlic slivers here and there.

Once the shallots are soft, turn up the heat and brown the chicken legs on both sides to seal in the flavours. Once browned, remove the chicken legs and place in an oven-proof baking dish.

De-glaze your pan by sloshing the glass of plonk into it, getting it to a slow bubble and scraping the yummy caramelised shallots away from the edges and into the sauce. Keep the rosemary sprig in there to get the most flavour out of it.

Once the wine sauce has reduced a fair bit, pour it over the chicken legs, add a fresh sprig of rosemary among the chicken legs and pop the whole lot into the oven. If there's not enough wine to go around, add a teensy bit of hot water...

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to gas mark 4, baste the chicken legs with the sauce and cover with foil before popping back into the lower shelf.

Bake for a further 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven, pour the gravy into a gravy boat, and thicken with a teaspoon of cornflower if necessary.

Serve with Roast Portabello Mushrooms and Spring Greens in Chilli Oil