Chicken thighs braised in red wine sauce

Method

1. Make the red wine sauce up to the end of its step 5 (strained), about 33 minutes (longer in a narrow pot), and skip its cold butter; the chicken gives this sauce its body instead. Using shop-bought jus, have it measured out and ready. Pat the chicken thighs dry with kitchen paper and season them well with salt and pepper.
2. While the sauce reduces, from the moment its wine is boiling, heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan or casserole with a lid over a medium-high heat. Lay the thighs in skin side down and leave until the skin is deep golden, crisp and lets go of the pan, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn and colour the other side for 3 minutes, then lift onto a plate.
3. Carefully pour off all but about a tablespoon of the fat into a heatproof bowl. Add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and fry over a medium-high heat, stirring now and then, until their liquid has cooked away and they are browned at the edges, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Pour in the strained sauce and the stock and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Sit the thighs back in skin side up, with their resting juices, keeping the skin above the liquid so it stays crisp. Bring to a simmer, until bubbles break the surface, 2 to 3 minutes, then set the lid ajar and turn the heat to medium-low.
5. Let it bubble gently until the chicken is cooked through, with no pink at the bone and clear juices (75°C in the thickest part), 25 to 30 minutes. Take the lid off for the last 10 minutes so the skin dries. Meanwhile, rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear and put it in a pan with 450ml of water and a pinch of salt.
6. With 20 minutes of the braise left, bring the rice to the boil over a high heat, then cover and turn to the lowest heat. Cook until the water has gone and little steam holes dot the surface, 10 to 12 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat for 5 minutes so it steams dry.
7. Lift the cooked thighs onto a clean warm plate, not the one that held them raw, and cover loosely with foil. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bubble the sauce until it lightly coats the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
8. Fluff the rice with a fork and divide it between four plates. Set two thighs on each, spoon over the mushrooms and plenty of the sauce, and serve straight away while the skin is still crisp.