A new twist on an old favorite: Chicken Fricassee

So last Sunday while Hailey was busy making Kale vegetable balls or whatever it was, I was trying a new spin on an old depression-era favorite; Chicken Fricassee. Now don't immediately groan and walk away, this was not your mother or grandmother's Chicken Fricassee but a tasty new version from my good friends at America's Test Kitchen - this was one of the dishes they made on their television show last Saturday.

Now of course Chicken Fricassee must begin with some chicken. You can use either boneless, skinless breasts or boneless, skinless thighs or a combination of both. Just remember that the thighs will take a bit longer to cook than the breasts.  I opted to go with just breasts:

Note that they were all natural breasts, no hormones ever, raised without a cage (really?) and fed an all vegetarian diet. It sounds so placid it makes me assume they were also playing soothing music as they chopped their little heads off as they were en-route to my saute pan. At any rate - this is pretty simple - wipe the breasts dry with a paper towel and sprinkle a bit of fresh ground pepper and kosher salt on both sides - that's it. The flavor comes later, we just want to get a good brown on both sides.

Here are most of the other ingredients - fresh lemon juice, a bit of Chardonnay, tarragon, ground nutmeg, and some sour cream. Note that it was not I that purchased the "fat-reduced" sour cream - that would be Mrs. Hendo's doing. I'd go for "extra fat" if they had such a thing, I mean really, if you're worried about the fat content you shouldn't be using sour cream in the first place - opt for that recipe-wrecker plain yogurt instead. It's sort of like drinking "lite" beer - what's the point?

You're also going to need a pound of cremini mushrooms - yes, a full pound. Trim the stems, wipe the caps, and cut into about a 1/4 inch slice. While you're doing this you may as well dice one medium onion (about one cup) and crush a couple of cloves of garlic. Actually the recipe called for only one clove of garlic but I invariably double up on garlic with almost anything I cook.

You'll need about a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of unsalted butter, tossed into the saute pan over a medium-high heat. I use grapeseed oil when I'm browning - it's flavor neutral and has a very high heat tolerance but olive oil would work just as well. The butter (and no recipe should be without it) helps the browning process.

Now the butter is going to foam a bit so wait until the foaming subsides but don't wait so long that the butter begins to brown. Toss in the chicken and cook for about 4 minutes.



After 4 minutes on the first side, flip the chicken and cook it for four minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan to a large plate.

Now comes the flavoring for the fricassee. Add the mushrooms and the diced onion to the now empty skillet and add 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Cook, stirring every once in a while, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms have browned - about 8 to 10 minutes.  Now when you first add a pound of sliced mushrooms to a saute pan it will fill it nearly to the rim - after cooking for 10 minutes it reduces to a nice thick layer on the bottom.

Add the crushed garlic and a tablespoon of unbleached all purpose flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth and bring the mixture to a low boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen up those browned bits of flavor trying to attach themselves to the pan instead of the food.

Add the chicken back to the pan, including the yummy juices that will be on the plate, reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees (175 degrees if using thighs), this should take about 5-10 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a clean serving plate and cover loosely with foil. Whisk together one egg yolk into 1/3 cup sour cream in a small bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly stir 1/2 cup of the mushroom sauce into the sour cream and egg yolk mixture and then stirring constantly slowly pour the mix into the simmering sauce. Add 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and the tarragon - 2 teaspoons of minced fresh or 1 teaspoon of dry. Return to a simmer - correct the flavor as needed with a bit of salt and pepper and then ladle the sauce over the chicken and serve.

This one was yummy! The glutamate-rich mushrooms boosts the meaty flavor and the sour cream adds body and just a bit of tang. Whisking the egg yolk into the sour cream both thickens the sauce and makes it silky. Leftovers at lunch the next day were divine.

Ingredients
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or a combination

Table salt and ground black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon oil

1 pound cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps wiped clean and cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)

¼ cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)

1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup sour cream

1 egg yolk

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon

2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon