Coq au Vin with Fondant Potatoes

Steps

1. Render the bacon. Heat the oven to 325°F. Put the bacon in a cold Dutch oven over medium heat and cook about 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until lightly golden and just turning crisp. It simmers in the braise later, so don’t take it further.
2. Keep the fat. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Leave a thin film of fat in the pot, 2–3 tbsp; spoon off any excess and keep it in case the pot looks dry later.
3. Brown the legs. Raise the heat to medium-high. Lay the legs in skin-side down without crowding, working in two batches if needed, and leave them alone 5–6 minutes, until the skin is deep golden and releases easily. Flip, give the other side a few minutes, and set aside. You’re building color and browned bits, not cooking them through.
4. Soften the vegetables. Lower the heat to medium. Cook the onion and carrots 6–7 minutes, scraping up the browned bits as they release moisture. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute, until the paste turns brick red. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute more.
5. Deglaze. Pour in the wine and scrape until every browned bit lifts free. Simmer 3–4 minutes to cook off the raw alcohol, then add the stock, thyme, bay leaf and the bacon.
6. Braise. Nestle the legs back in skin-side up, with the liquid about two-thirds of the way up the pieces so the skin stays above the surface. Cover and braise in the oven 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat pulls easily from the bone.
7. Shape the potatoes. While the chicken braises, peel the potatoes and trim each into a straight-sided cylinder about 2 in tall with flat, parallel ends. Pat them completely dry.
8. Sear the potatoes. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. Stand the potatoes on one flat end and leave them alone 5–6 minutes, until deep gold and releasing from the pan. Flip and sear the other flat end.
9. Baste. Pour off the searing oil. Add the butter, garlic and thyme, and once the butter foams, tilt the pan and spoon it over the potatoes for about 2 minutes.
10. Braise the potatoes. Pour in the stock to come about halfway up the potatoes. Season and roast at 400°F for 40–45 minutes, basting once halfway, until a paring knife slides through with no resistance and the stock has cooked down to just butter.
11. Brown the mushrooms. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms, and pearl onions if using, in 1 tbsp of the coq au vin butter over medium-high until deep golden, 6–8 minutes. Browning them separately keeps them from going gray and watery in the braise.
12. Finish the sauce. Move the chicken to a plate and tent with foil. Set the pot over medium-high and reduce the sauce 8–12 minutes, until it coats a spoon. Off the heat, swirl in the last 2 tbsp butter and fold in the mushrooms. Taste and salt now, after the reduction.
13. Serve. Return the chicken to the sauce, scatter with parsley, and serve over the fondant potatoes with flaky salt on the potatoes.