It is also not patriotic to intimidate and endanger the heroes who volunteer to risk their lives to save people at sea. 1.2% of the people they save are Asylum Seekers (a legal status; they are not “illegal” by the way. Anyone has the right to claim asylum however they arrive here, and we have the right to say no.) But if you are an ignorant bigot you can at least possibly think of the other 98.8% they save.

It is not patriotic to invade a town wearing black balaclavas to disrupt people’s lives and intimidate them into staying at work after their shifts finish; blocking roads; disrupting businesses while hiding your face. Protest is about standing up and being counted, not hiding behind a paramilitary version of a Burqa.

It is not patriotic to accept funding from foreign actors who are trying to disrupt our politics. Reform is not a political party it is a company controlled by Farage and funded by untraceable foreign-laundered money. They are the political wing of the international crypto-oligarchy.

It is not patriotic to eat French food.

Wait, what? Bugger!

It's never a good picture with creamy sauces, the lifeboat is better

This is essentially Coq au Vin, but with a few minor changes:

• White wine instead of the classic red
• Crème fraiche (I know, I couldn’t even use good old-fashioned British Cream).
• Chopped fresh tarragon (how much more froggy-fied can you get?

Method

Heat a heavy-based saucepan or casserole on a medium head and add the olive oil.

Dredge the chicken joints in the seasones flour and brown them in batches putting the browned chicken in a bowl. When they’re all done deglaze the pan with a little of the wine and/or stock and pour the result into the bowl with the chicken.

Wipe the pan with kitchen paper if it needs it and add some more oil and the butter. When the butter foams add the onions and fennel seeds

Sweat the onions, celery and carrots with a bit of salt and pepper and then add the garlic and cook gently for a minute or so.

Add the wine and stock and bring to a simmer for a few minutes before turning it down to a gentle simmer and adding the chicken pieces and the liquid you got when you deglazed the pan. Throw in the bay leaves, put a lid on and cook gently for an hour at least. (We went to the pub so it was a bit longer than that.)

Before serving stir in the tarragon and crème fraiche and cook for another five minutes

That’s it

Ingredients

• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 1lb chicken thighs (skin on)
• a mug or so of chicken stock
• 500ml dry white wine
• two small or one large onion(s) finely chopped
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• a carrot (I usually use half as it can be too sweet – see Tips)
• 1 stick of celery peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed.
• 3 bay leaves
• 300ml crème fraiche
• a bunch of tarragon finely chopped

Tips

Carrots can be a bit much, especially as sweating the onions makes them sweet as well. I sometimes just halve them longways and drop them it, then you can take them out whenever you think they’ve done enough. They’re a cook’s treat with a load of salt and some pepper.

Alternatives

You can do this more or less as it it but without the crème fraiche to make a fairly standard coq au vin. Swap the tarragon for parsley in this case

Red wine is more classic, again with parsley and when you deglaze the pan with wine and stock add a splash of brandy (sherry works too and so does vermouth)