2014 Cooking Club Week 40: Chicken Fricassee

Hi everybody!

This recipe originates from Loire and is traditionally known as Fricassee de Poulet a l'Ancienne, quite a mouthful! It was a firm favourite of Thomas Jefferson.

There are loads of different recipes for this dish, some quite basic and some quite labourious. I’ve based “My” version from Julia Child’s version and it’s somewhere in the middle as regards difficulty

You can make this with various cuts of chicken, I’ve used breasts (cut into thirds)

I like this dish as it uses 3 of my favourite ingredients; butter, cream & wine :pac:

The Line-Up



There are 3 components to this dish but the first 2 are quite simple:

White-Braised Onions (Oignons Glacés à Blanc):
1 peeled white onions
1/2 cup of chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
Salt & pepper to taste
Small herb bouquet

In a medium saucepan over low heat, add the onions, butter, chicken stock, seasonings and herb bouquet.
Cover and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes.

Stewed Mushrooms (Champignons à Blanc):
1 packet of mushrooms, chopped and quartered
juice of half lemon
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup water
Salt & pepper

Bring the water, butter, lemon juice to boil in a small saucepan.
Add the mushrooms and stir, ensuring they are covered by liquid.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Set aside until until called for in the chicken fricassee recipe below.


Chicken Fricassee (Fricassee De Poulet):
4 chicken breasts cut into thirds
4 tbs butter
Mirepoix - 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1 onion, all diced finely
Salt & pepper
25g plain flour
50g butter
Glass of white wine
Small herb bouquet - I used one from a Swartz packet
150ml double cream
700ml chicken stock
teaspoon of cumin
pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon of parsley, chopped


Heat a large casserole dish over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter.
Place a few pieces of the seasoned chicken in the casserole dish being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
Once the chicken pieces are nicely browned, remove them from the pot and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the casserole dish. Sauté the mirepoix until tender.




Stir in the flour & coat the vegetables. Cook off the flour for a minute or so.

Add the wine scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the casserole dish.
Add the chicken stock...the liquid should start to thicken a bit.
Add the herb bouquet and chicken back to the pot, nestled on top of the vegetables.
Ensure the liquid covers the chicken and add additional chicken stock if necessary.
Taste for seasoning.



Cover the casserole dish and cook at a low simmer for 30-35 minutes.
If the casserole is a bit watery then remove the chicken, turn up the heat until it reduces. Add the chicken back in.

Add the egg yolks to the double cream and whisk together. Very slowly add liquid from the casserole dish to the egg/cream mixture – only add one tablespoon at a time and whisk whilst doing so – you don’t want the eggs to scramble. When the mixture is warm to touch it is ready to be added to the casserole dish

Remove the casserole from the heat and add the double cream, stir through and return to a LOW heat.



Finally:
Add the lemon juice and the nutmeg

Add the braised onions and mushrooms; stirring well to incorporate.
Add 2 tablespoons of softened butter and chopped parsley to the pot and stir again.

Serve the chicken fricassee with creamy mash.
Garnish with additional parsley if desired.

Bon Appetit!