Fricassée de Poulet À L'Ancienne

Old-fashioned Chicken Fricassee with Wine-flavoured Cream Sauce, Onions and Mushrooms

Another Julia Child's French classic cuisine: Chicken Fricassee. So what is Fricassee, you might ask. According to an online definition: "Fricassée is a traditional French stew made usually made with chicken" (source). It is similar to braising, but when you say fricassée, you do not brown the meat. Basically, it is a white stew.

There something to french cooking chicken dishes (that I made so far) that taste similar. I think that's because of the stock and white wine reduction. But for this dish, the heavy cream and egg gave a more creamy and smooth texture.

For me, the taste of this dish is good. Nothing very special, though I'm not saying this doesn't taste good. It is very tasty, but I think I'll just do this if I have left over heavy cream in the fridge.

But, if you're interested in making a fricassée, whether chicken, duck, rabbit, or any kind of meat, here are what you need:

for 4-6 pax

1-1.5 kg whole chicken, cut into parts
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
4 tbsp butter
salt and white pepper to taste (but don't make it too salty)
3 tbsp flour
3 cups boiling chicken stock/broth
1 cup dry white wine
herb bouquet garni (2 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf, 1/8 tsp thyme)
16-20 white braised onions*
250g fresh mushroom stewed in butter, lemon and water**
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
lemon juice
pinch of nutmeg

*white braised onions*
16 - 20 pearl onions/shallots
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 bouquet garni
   Place everything in a sauce pan and simmer very slowly, rolling the onions from time to time for 40-50 minutes. If the liquid evaporates during cooking, add more by spoonfuls

**mushroom stew**
250g fresh mushroom
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter
1. Bring the everything to boil except for the mushroom.
2. Add the mushroom and toss.
3. Cover and boil moderately fast, tossing frequently for 5 minutes.

1. Cook the vegetables slowly in butter for 5 minutes or until tender, but not browned. Push to one side, then raise heat to medium high.

2. Add the chicken, and turn it every 3-4 minutes, without coloring to more than golden yellow.

3. Lower heat to medium and cover for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.

4. Sprinkle salt and white pepper to taste (but not too salty). Add the flour to the chicken until it coats all side. Roll it in the cooking butter. Cover and continue to cook slowly for 4 minutes, turning once.

5. Add boiling chicken stock, white wine and bouquet garni. Bring to simmer. Taste for seasoning. Simmer for 25-30 minutes. It is done when juice from drumstick when pricked with fork run clear.

6. Remove chicken to a side dish. Add the juice from the onion and mushroom to the cooking liquid. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes, removing the fat. Boil rapidly stirring frequently to thicken the sauce, enough to coat a spoon nicely. Correct seasoning.

7. In a mixing bowl, whisk in egg yolks and heavy cream. Add the hot liquid by small tablespoonfuls while whisking. Pour the sauce in a thin stream while whisking. After whisking, return the liquid to the casserole. Bring to a boil for 1 minute.

8. Correct seasoning, add drops of lemon juice and pinch of nutmeg.

9. Arrange the chicken, onion and mushroom in the casserole. Pour the sauce over it. Serve.

There you go! Bon appétit! :D

Poulet Poêlé à L'estragon

Casserole-Roasted Tarragon Chicken

I bought a new French cookbook the other day entitled French: Easy Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients (Food for Friends). While browsing with Grace, we saw this recipe, and it looks very simple and very easy. I remembered Julia Child also has this recipe, so I checked it out. It looked more complicated and requires more ingredients than the former book. And from the ingredient lists, I think that both recipes taste very differently. The first one is creamy, while Julia's is savory. Given that I don't have one of the main ingredient for the first book (heavy cream), I went with Julia Child's version.

So yes, this is Julia Child's version. I'm sorry for the poor aesthetics of the photo. I also forgot to place the vegetables around the chicken. Anyway, the chicken came out very tender and very flavourful. Once you open the casserole from the oven (actually, even before you open), you can smell the buttery aromatics, and especially tarragon. The flavour and the aroma of tarragon really locked in the moist and tender meat. To be honest, this reminds me of Hainanese Chicken, although it differs in taste because of the herb and butter.  The sauce beside the chicken is the (brown) tarragon sauce. It gave the chicken another doze of malinamnam tarragon kick. It's supposed to be brown. The recipe requires a brown chicken stock, but I only have chicken stock from broth.

I think this dish is great for those who are living healthy(-ish). However for me, I still like my Poulet Bonne Femme (coming soon) better.

What you need: (4-6 pax)

1.2kg whole roasting chicken
3/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
4-8 tbsp butter*
3-4 sprigs of fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried
cooking oil
1/2 cup sliced onions
1/4 cup sliced carrots
aluminum foil

for the Brown Tarragon Sauce

2 cups brown chicken stock
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with
2 tbsp Madeira (I used dry white wine. BUT THIS IS NOT A CORRECT SUBSTITUTE)
2 tbsp fresh tarragon
1 tbsp softened butter


1. Pre-heat oven to 325F

2. Season the cavity of the chicken with salt, pepper and 1tbsp butter. Insert the tarragon leaves. Truss the chicken, closing the cavity. (I don't know how to truss(tie) a chicken, I improvised)

3. Set casserole over moderately high heat with butter and oil. Once the butter foam subsides, place the chicken breast side down. Brown the chicken on all side for 2-3minutes per side. Be careful not to break the skin. Add oil and butter if necessary.

4. After all sides have browned, remove the chicken. Pour out the fat if it has burned. *Add 3 tbsp butter

5. Cook the carrots and onions slowly for 5 minutes without them browning. Add the 1/4 tsp salt and tarragon.

6. Salt the chicken on all sides well. Place it on the bed of vegetables in the casserole, breast side up. Baste it with butter in the casserole. Lay a piece of aluminum over the chicken and cover the casserole. Reheat the casserole on the stove until you hear little crackling or sizzling sound (around 2-3 minutes).

7. Place the casserole in the middle rack of the oven. Roast for 1 hour and 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Baste once or twice with the butter and juice.

8. The chicken is done when juice from its vent is clear yellow. Remove the chicken to a serving platter.



For the sauce,

1. Add the stock to the casserole and simmer for 2 minutes, scraping the coagulated juice. Skim of all but a tablespoon of fat.

2. Blend in the cornstarch mixture and simmer, then bring to boil until lightly thickened.

3. Stir in the herbs and enrich with 1 tbsp butter. Pour into a sauceboat. Serve.


There you go! You now have a Poulet Poêlé à L'estragon à la Julia Child. :) I recommend using fresh tarragon than dried for this dish.

Lemon Chicken

Last Monday, the world (or maybe just the Chinese?) celebrated the Chinese New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choi 恭喜發財 for Cantonese speaking people. :)

Anyway, since it is the new year, Grace suggested I try a Chinese dish. So I made Lemon Chicken and fried rice.

I tried doing Asian cuisine for the first time, and to be honest, I suck (I haven't even tried doing Adobo). Or maybe I just don't have the right recipe for this dish to taste a little more Chinese-y. It lacks that unique Chinese flavour. Maybe MSG? I don't know. Well, for me, the dish is so-so. I added sugar and honey to make it a little sweeter for my taste (typical Filipino taste) while retaining the citrusy taste of this dish. I added a little fresh parsley I have in the fridge. Although it tastes good, not good enough to make it in the Chinese restaurant. Grace said she wanted it to be more sour. I think the sourness is just enough. I don't like too much sourness in my dish. Something Chinese-y is lacking. Spice?

I just copied this recipe somewhere (sorry, I forgot where), but here's what I did.

1 whole chicken (recipe requires 8 chicken breasts)

4 tbsp soy sauce

salt and pepper

flour*

a dash of paprika*

100mL lemon juice

3 slices of lemon

1.5 cups chicken stock

2 tbsp cornstarch

a dash of garlic powder*

sugar and honey* (optional, to taste)

*not in the original recipe

1. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and soy sauce. Leave it for 30 minutes.

2. Pat dry the chicken and dredge it with flour and paprika. Fry the chicken in oil until golden brown. (If you opt to skip the flour and paprika, fry the chicken breasts in butter). When done, leave it on a plate.

3. Combine the chicken stock, lemon, cornstarch, garlic powder and lemon slices (optional: sugar/honey, to taste) in a sauce pan. Boil until thick. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Maybe you have a better version of Lemon Chicken. Now, what did I miss? Hmmm

Poulet Sauté à la Crème

Sautéed Chicken in Cream

Earlier this week, I cooked a beef recipe with creamy sauce in it for my friends and left an opened carton of heavy cream in the fridge. I'm so worried that it might end up unused and spoiled after this week, so I decided to cook another creamy viand for tonight. I browsed through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and saw this simple recipe (with a lot of variation from the original recipe).

Basically it's just chicken with heavy cream sauce, with the addition of wine, onions and mushrooms. The moment you take a bite of this fine dish, you will feel the tenderness, the juiciness and the cheesiness of the chicken. Plus add the creaminess with a hint of wine of the sauce. Oh là là, le gastronome! It's very easy to do, very quick, and best if you're going to entertain guests in a hurry. I suggest this dish when you need  quick food for your hungry guests.

(Please note that I greatly varied my recipe from Julia Child's. Nevertheless, I'll give you mine)

What I did was (good for 4-6 people):

8 chicken breasts, pat dried
flour
salt and pepper
paprika*
dried tarragon
grated parmesan cheese*

1 can chopped mushrooms*
unsalted butter
cooking oil
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 red onion, minced


1. Combine on a plate the flour, salt and pepper, paprika, tarragon and grated parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly. After drying the chicken breasts, evenly coat it with the flour mixture.

1.a.**edit** Sauté the mushroom with oil and butter for around 4 minutes. Set aside <-- I forgot this step

2. On a hot casserole, combine cooking oil and around 2 tbsp butter. Add the chicken when the foam from the butter begins to subside. Sauté the chicken until golden brown (Actually, I fried the chickens until done). Remove the chicken and set aside.

3. Remove all but 3tbsp of fat from the casserole and deglaze with the wine. Reduce to 3tbsp. Add the heavy cream and boil until thick. Add the mushroom and continue to simmer for about 1 minute.

4. Remove from heat. Add 2 tbsp of butter to the hot liquid, stir and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice or noodles. Great with dry white wine.

Bon appétit!


The ingredients with (*) are not in the original recipe.

Creamy Baked Chicken

Some time this month, my sister asked me if I can cook for her barkada's little Christmas get-together lunch here. She specifically requested a recipe with wine in it. I searched the net for some inspirations on easy recipes with wine. I stumbled upon a recipe (sorry, I forgot where I got it) that is very easy. Although what I did was not really from the website, I'm not claiming this recipe to be entirely mine (maybe 40% mine?).

However, their little get-together didn't push through. I made this recipe for my friends last night. Their general comment was the meat was tender, moist and very cheesy (in a good way I think). This is a very easy recipe that you can do anytime.

7-9 pcs chicken breast fillets
1 can cream of chicken
1/4 dry white wine
1 can button mushrooms
1 onion
herbs and spices (I used rosemary, thyme, tarragon, and paprika)
grated Parmesan Cheese

Gruyère/Swiss Cheese, sliced

flour

salt and pepper
eggs
bread crumbs


1. Pre heat oven to 350F

2. On 3 bowls, mix together: a) flour, salt, pepper, paprika, b) beaten eggs, c) breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, herbs

3. Pat dry the chicken breast fillets using paper towels. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture completely tapping off the excess. Dip the chicken in the eggs and roll it in the breadcrumb mixture covering it completely.

4. Fry the chicken breast fillets on a frying pan until half cooked (4-5 minutes per side). After frying, place the chicken in an oven safe dish.

5. Sauté the  onion until tender. After a few minutes, add the mushrooms. Continue sautéing until the onions are caramelized. Place the mushroom and the onions on top of the chicken.

6. Thinly slice the Gruyère and top it on the mushroom and onions.

7. Mix together the cream of chicken and 1/4 cup dry white wine until smooth. Spoon it over the chicken.

8. Cover the oven dish with foil and bake it for 30-40 minutes.

9. Serve. Bon appétit!