Those of you familiar with Greek cuisine will have heard of φρικασέ (fricassée), usually finished off with an egg/lemon emulsion. It can be made with pork, lamb, veal and of course chicken.
The origin of the name is French and my version of Chicken Fricassée borrows from both cuisines. Think of fricassee as a quicker, lighter version of coq au vin made with white wine and the sauce, white.
Lot of mushrooms, onions, herbs and some wilted romaine lettuce leaves. The French use cream in their version and the Greeks with egg/lemon and this version, neither.
The sauce is thickened with flour and the simmering liquid consists of white wine, stock and milk. You won’t miss the cream – promise!
This is an easy dish one could make on a weeknight but before you get started, be sure you have a large skillet so as to fit 8 pieces of chicken and the remaining ingredients.
I like serving this dish with mashed potatoes but egg noodles or trahana would be wonderful as well!
Chicken Fricassée
Course: Bistro, Featured, Flour, French, Garlic, Greek, Greek Food, Greek Wine, Herbs, Main, Mushrooms, Olive Oil, Onions, Potato, Poultry, Recipes, Salt, Sauce4-6
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
4 chicken legs
4 chicken thighs
2 tsp. sea alt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
8 small/pearl onions, peeled and whole
3 cups halved or quartered mushrooms
1 cup diced white onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 cup warm whole milk
3 cups hot stock (chicken or vegetable)
3 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups roughly chopped romaine lettuce
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Pat your chicken with paper towel and season both sides with salt and pepper. Add oil into a large skillet over medium high heat. Add your chicken and brown on both sides. Remove and place on a platter.
- Into the same pan, add the pearl onions and brown on all sides and reserve with the chicken.
- Add more oil if needed and add your mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the onions garlic, turn heat down to medium and stir occasionally. Cook for about 4-5 minutes or un just translucent.
- Add the flour and stir in and cook for a minute. Add the wine, stir to deglaze the pan.
- Add the milk, bay leaves, thyme, chicken pieces (skin side up), pearl onions and enough stock to almost cover the chicken. Add lettuce, bring up to a simmer and place the lid on (slightly ajar).
- Simmer for 30 minutes then remove lid and simmer for about another 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
- Turn off heat, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and served on top of garlic mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Variation: You can use baby spinach instead of romaine lettuce but add it at the end as they wilt very easily.
