Bog Man Chicken

This is what I think of as Italian country cooking. It is really called Chicken Legs in Red Wine or Pollo Al Vino Rosso. Shelley called this dish Bog Man Chicken because in the serving dish it looked like something like 1000 year old remains, dug up in some peat bog. Like the Lindow man or something like that. Don't be deterred. It is great.Simple but very tasty.
I would suggest that you use a good full bodied red wine and not just some plonk you may have around. It makes a difference.


1 package brown mushrooms
1 good glug of Olive Oil
2 Tbsp rosemary assuming, you can't find fresh in which case use a full sprig
2 bay leaves
4 chicken legs
1 1/2 cup red wine
2 half inch slices of pancetta, cut into strips
Salt & pepper

Get a pan large enough to easily take all four chicken legs and thighs and heat it on medium high. Add the oil, let it heat then add the rosemary and the bay leaves and finally the chicken.
Brown the chicken well on all sides then add the mushrooms, stir them in.
Pour in the wine and stir again. Cook the wine and mushrooms until the alcohol evaporates this will take perhaps 10 minutes. Turn the chicken often.
At this point add the pancetta laying in over the chicken.
Turn the heat down to medium or medium low and cook the mixture uncovered for at least half an hour.
Stir and turn the chicken fairly often during this last phase of cooking.
When it looks like it is close to falling off the bone it is done.
Serve with rice, a vegetable and the rest of the bottle of red.