Baked Chicken with Bacon, Mushrooms and Pearl Onions

Ingredients:
1 3-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound bacon cut to 1/2-inch dice
12 cloves garlic, unpeeled
16 pearl onions, peeled
24 white mushrooms, trimmed
1 cup dry white wine
15 springs assorted herbs (such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage)
1 to 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour or cornstarch, optional

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325F. Wash the chicken pieces under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil and bacon over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold all of the ingredients. Coo****il the bacon has browned and rendered enough fat to coat the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain, leaving as much fat as possible in the pot.

Add the chicken pieces, skin side down, and brown all over in the bacon fat, 4 to 5 minutes per side. (You may need to do this in batches.) Return the bacon to the pan, along with the garlic, onions, mushrooms, wine and herb springs. Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 20 minutes.

Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken and vegetables from the pot to a warm platter. As you do, discard the herb sprigs. Skim any grease from the surface of the sauce, and then whisk in the flour or cornstarch to thicken it, if desired.

Return the chicken to the pot and serve family style from the center of the table,