In a large, deep skillet or saucepan over medium heat, heat two tablespoons of olive oil. Season the chicken thighs with a pinch of salt and cook for ten minutes skin side down, until crisp and golden. We turn around and cook another five minutes, reserving them once done on a plate.
Cut the bread into pieces to make the croutons. We put the pieces of bread in the fat that the chicken has released and stir to soak. We reserve them on a tray in the oven where we will toast them later while our chicken stew is cooking.
to make the sauce, we chop the shallots and garlic and cook them in the rest of the fat that remained in the saucepan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once golden, add the white wine and cognac and scrape, deglazing the bottom of the pan. Add the bay leaf and canned tomatoes, stirring well so that all the ingredients are mixed.
While it’s cooking, let’s go stirring and breaking the tomatoes into large pieces pressing them with a spoon. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a minimum and cook uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by half, after about ten minutes. Cut the mushrooms and distribute them on a baking tray. We make room to distribute the chicken thighs that we had reserved. Pour the tomato sauce on top. We put that tray in the lower area of the oven and we put another one with the croutons, in the middle zone.
We cook for 30 minutes so that the chicken is at its point, removing the croutons after twelve or fifteen minutes. To serve this dish, we put the croutons in a dish and spread the chicken on top of them, drizzling everything generously with the sauce so that the bread absorbs it. We serve immediately so that it reaches the table piping hot.