Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 chicken, around 1.8kg
- 1 ltr chicken stock
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
- 200g pea pods
- 150g mushrooms
- 50g butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 100ml dry white wine
- 200ml cream
- Salt and black pepper
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 2-3 cloves (optional)
- 3 carrots, approx. 200g (optional)
- 4-5 spears of white and green asparagus (optional)
- 200g medium sized waxy potatoes (optional)
METHOD:
- Halve the chicken and add to a cocotte along with the chicken stock, herbs and spices. Bring to the boil, then cover and allow to simmer on a gentle to medium heat for about 60 minutes.
- In the meantime, if using them, peel the carrots and asparagus and cut in thick, diagonal pieces and peel and quarter the potatoes. Clean the peas. Halve or quarter the mushrooms, depending on size.
- Add the carrots and potatoes to the chicken and allow to boil covered for 15 minutes. Then add the vegetables and boil covered for another 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove the chicken and vegetables from the stock and allow to cool slightly. Sieve the stock into another bowl.
- Clean the cocotte, then add the butter and allow to foam before stirring in the flour. Cover the roux with wine then pour in the stock and cream. Reduce the liquid by a third.
- In the meantime, remove the skin from the cooked chicken and pull the meat from the bones.
- Add the chicken and vegetables to the reduced sauce and stir in. Season the fricassee with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
By Staub