Serious Eats: Recipes
Cook the Book: Chicken and Mushroom Fricassee
Chicken fricassee has always struck me as a somewhat outdated dish; something my grandmother would have prepared for a weeknight meal, probably without even following a recipe, the ingredients and amounts long since committed to memory.
Ever intent on rescuing American country cooking and elevating it to new heights, the chefs and editors at America's Test Kitchen decided to give the dish a fresh look. After assessing numerous recipes, they determined that errors such as cooking white and dark meat together in the same pot, as well as replacing homemade sauce with canned cream of mushroom soup, were why chicken fricassee "had fallen off the radar."
The recipe they developed, for Chicken and Mushroom Fricassee, excerpted here from The Cook's Country Cookbook, is subtly creamy and full of earthy mushroom flavor. Instead of relying on a whole bird, this version calls for bone-in breasts, which are quickly sautéed and then braised in a bath of onions, garlic, and white wine.
When preparing this dish, use a teaspoon to remove the dark gills from the underside of the portobello mushrooms—it will prevent the sauce from turning a dull shade of brown.
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