Chicken Fricassee

By jonoandjules on 7 January 2025

So simple and yet so lovely. The bit that takes time can be done earlier in the day and it's fairly easy to finish off later. Serve with rice or whatever you fancy.

Wine Suggestion: We like how the stonefruit characters, mixed with slightly lower acidity from a southern Rhône white goes with the gentle and elegant nature of this dish. The Grapillon d'Or Vacqueyras white is a good example and it's fleshy character and minerally/nutty textures are just perfect.

Chicken Fricassee - serves 6 to 8

2kg whole chicken

FOR THE POACHING LIQUID:

750ml chicken stock
2 banana shallots, sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
8 tsp black peppercorns
½ lemon
a large bulb of garlic, cut in half horizontallly

FOR THE SAUCE:

a large knob of butter
500g banana shallots, thinly sliced
3 sticks celery, finely diced
200ml double cream
3 tbsp chopped chives
3 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley

Put the whole chicken into a large, deep saucepan. Add all of the poaching liquid ingredients and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour, or until the chicken is cooked. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the liquid.

When the chicken is cold, take the chicken out and remove the meat from the carcass - discard the bones and skin. Tear the meat into large pieces and set aside. Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve into a large jug. Squeeze the garlic from the skin into a small bowl and mash with a fork. Discard the poaching veg, lemon and peppercorns.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and celery and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add the mashed garlic and fry for 10 seconds, then pour in the vermouth and boil to reduce by half. Add 600ml of the poaching liquid, bring to the boil and boil hard for 3 minutes.

Add 2 tbsp of the remaining poaching liquid to the cornflour and stir until smooth. Add this to the pan and cook until the sauce has thickened. Add the cream and cooked chicken and gently reheat until hot. Add the fresh herbs and season well with salt and black pepper.

(Original recipe from Mary's Foolproof Dinners, BBC Books, 2024.)