Chicken Fricassee with Ramps and Baby Bellas

We're still hard and heavy into the ramps here. They're finding their way into every meal, from our scrumptious morning ramps and scallion omelette with ham, cheddar and chives, which my daughter has requested every morning for breakfast since so scavenged my Sunday morning omelette:

to a light lunch of spaghetti with ramps, made the way I do spaghetti aglio e olio:

I pulled out some chicken pieces and chicken stock from the freezer to clear out the older stuff  to make room in there for this season's new crop of stock and purees.

I found a recipe for braised chicken thighs with morels and ramps in a white wine cream sauce, which seemed to me to be basically a chicken fricassee, which my kids love. I had a package of baby bells malingering in the fridge for the past week or so, and I knew I had to use those suckers up before they went to the dark side, so this recipe seemed perfect.

I still had half a head of cauliflower to use up, and some leftover cheese sauce from our weekend mac-and cheese, and what vegetable pairs better with a cheese sauce than cauliflower? All the pieces were falling into place. YES! I will clear out the fridge and freezer. Instead of the usual quinoa and rice pilaf, I made German potato pancakes and added a small bunch of ramps to the batter for some interesting, and tasty green Kartoffelpuffer.

Chicken fricassee, steamed cauliflower with white cheddar sauce and ramps and potato pancakes:

The kids plowed through this last night, leaving me only one little thigh and cauliflower floret for the pictures.

Chicken Fricassee with Ramps and Baby Bellas

-adapted from The Houndstooth Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken pieces - thighs and drumsticks
• approximately 1 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
• dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• paprika
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound baby bellas
• 1 bunch ramps, 10 - 12, whites and greens chopped 
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 cup dry white wine - I used a Pinot Gris
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• additional chicken stock or water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat a large dutch oven over high heat.

2. Fill a large ziplock bag with about 1 cup of all-purpose flour, a teaspoon of dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon paprika. Shake to mix. Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry then place in the bag. Press out as much air as you can and seal the bag tightly, then shake until the chicken pieces are nicely coated with the flour mixture. Take out each piece, shaking off hte excess flour adn set them on a platter.

3. Add olive oil and 3 tablespoons of butter to the pre-heated dutch oven. Once the butter has all melted and the oil begins to shimmer, add chicken pieces to the pan in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Brown the pieces for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove the browned chicken pieces to a platter to rest.

4. Lower the heat to medium and add 2 tablespoons butter to the dutch oven and saute the chopped ramps and shallots for 4 - 5 minutes, then add the chopped mushrooms and let cook down for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Transfer vegetables to a bowl.

5. Increase the heat to high and de-glaze with white wine, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom. Lower the heat and simmer until the wine to reduce by a third. Add 2 cups of chicken stock, the bay leaf and  thyme sprigs. Lay the chicken pieces in the dutch oven and top with the sauteed vegetables on top of the chicken.

6. Place the dutch oven in the oven and braise for an hour and a half.

7. Place the chicken pieces on a serving platter. Place the dutch oven on a burner over low heat and add cream and chicken stock until it is the consistency you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve chicken with sauce over top. Tweet

Chicken Fricassee

Chicken fricassee is, as you might guess, a French dish. I've heard it described as French comfort food, and why not? Basically you take some chicken and simmer it to wonderful succulence in a thickened sauce with aromatic vegetables and then, the pièce de résistance, go that extra mile and cook down that sauce to a rich, cream-bolstered gravy. How can anyone go wrong with that?

Here in central NY, I've heard this dish called, fondly, "Chick Frick," or even "Frickin Chicken," and everyone seems to have pretty strong opinions of what is or is not Chick Frick. Kopp's Canteen in Chittenango was known for its chicken fricassee and had a loyal following who were pretty bummed when the restaurant closed a few years ago. Not too long ago, there was even a piece in the local paper announcing that another restaurant had the original Kopp's Canteen recipe for chicken fricassee. Big news. Seriously.

The thing is, this is not a difficult dish. I was fortunate enough to have the Chick Frick at Kopp's before they closed, and the fans are right - it was really good. I don't claim to have Kopp's original recipe, but I will say that this one I make is pretty damned tasty. It is tasty enough to get my kids to devour 2 full servings of it, and let me tell you, that's pretty good.

Aside from how delicious and satisfying this meal is, one of the things I like the most about this dish is how it fills the house with a wonderfully inviting smell that lingers... in a good way. Now, I love fish, and it smells divine while it's cooking, but that smell is not one that improves with time. Hours after a seafood meal, the kitchen does not smell especially inviting, and I'm usually rubbing everything down with lemon juice and spritzing the joint with Lysol to fight back the odor of once-cooked fish. Hours after a chicken dinner has been cooked and devoured, the kitchen still has that cozy comfort-food scent to it.

Feed the body with nourishing food, feed the soul with coziness. It works for me.

Chicken Fricassee

Serves 2 hungry kids 

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken drumsticks, rinsed and patted dry
• ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
• butter
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ¼ cup diced parsnip
• ½ cup chopped mushrooms - I used royal trumpet mushrooms, but any of your favorite mushrooms would be nice
  
• a good glug of sherry, 1 - 2 tablespoons
• 1½ - 2 cups warmed chicken broth
• sprigs of fresh thyme 
• 2 small bay leaves or 1 large bay leaf
• salt
• pepper
• heavy cream

Directions:

1. Place the flour, paprika, black pepper and granulated garlic (or garlic powder) in a large ziplock bag and shake gently to mix. Add the drumsticks to the bag, seal and shake to coat the chicken with the flour mixture thoroughly. Remove the flour-coated chicken to a plate to rest and reserve the flour and spice mixture in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a dutch oven or a large, deep skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat and brown the chicken until all sides are nicely golden. Remove the chicken to a plate and let rest.
3. If the chicken released a lot of fat, you might want to drain off some of that grease, otherwise leave it there and add to the sizzling fat + butter combination, adding more butter if needed, your chopped onions and let cook until softened. Then add the parsnips and cook for 2 minutes before adding the chopped mushroom. 
4. Cook for another 2 - 3 minutes or until the veggies are soft, then add 1 cup of your warmed chicken broth and a few glugs of sherry.
5.  Stir in the reserved flour and spice mixture that you used to coat the chicken, stirring well to make sure that the flour is incorporated and the sauce is not lumpy.
6. Add the sprigs of fresh thyme and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Place the chicken back into the pot and pour in the remaining ½ - 1 cup of broth, cover and reduce the heat to low and let simmer until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, with an internal temperature of 165° F, about 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Once the chicken has cooked through, remove it to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm, and work on the sauce. Skim off any pools of grease floating on the top. Fish out and discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, raise the heat to medium-high and let the sauce cook down, stirring frequently to make certain that it does not scorch. 
8. Once it has thickened to your liking, maybe after 10 minutes, maybe after 20, it's up to you, add a shot of heavy cream and stir. I start with about 1 tablespoon and go from there. If you like, you can finish the sauce with a squeeze of lemon juice or a tiny splash of sherry vinegar to add a little acidic bite, but my kids prefer it without.
9. Taste to check for seasoning and add salt or pepper as you feel necessary and serve with your chicken over biscuits, noodles or rice.

Notes:

• These 4 drumsticks were enough to feed my 2 kids. Obviously, if you are cooking for a crowd, you'll want to make way more. 
• Instead of parsnips, you could use some carrot. I have grown fond of onion-parsnip-mushroom combination, but do what works for you.

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Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs

Every so often I like to plan a big meal: a big piece of roasted meat, potatoes, and an assortment of vegetables. One of our favorites, and the easiest, is this roasted chicken stuffed with lemon and herbs. I like to buy the largest chicken I can find, and big bunches of thyme and rosemary when I make this.

The incredible lemon and herb-heavy smell that fills the house after this chicken has been in the oven for about an hour is amazing. Even people with no appetite will find themselves salivating. When I make this, the cat is never very far from the kitchen the entire time, and I have learned never to walk away from the chicken when it is sitting on the counter to rest before carving.

The bonus with this recipe, in addition to the plentiful cooked white meat ready for other recipes, is that I use the carcass to make stock, which freezes well and tastes better than anything from a can or a bouillon cube. Sometimes I am pressed for time, because I have just spent an afternoon slaving over a hot stove making a big meal and then another hour or so cleaning up and putting away all of the leftovers. On those nights, I don't always feel like dealing with a big pot of stock until 10 pm, so I just put the cooled carcass in a large ziplock freezer bag, and stick it in the freezer until I am ready to make the stock.

The only drawback to this recipe is that, considering our current limited stage of genetic engineering, chickens still have only 2 wings and 2 drumsticks. My odd kids prefer the dark meat and have been known to battle, greasy-fingered, over a drumstick or a stray bit of dark meat on the platter. As frightening as the thought of some Frankenchicken may be, it would save me some arguments.

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs

Ingredients:

• 1 whole roaster chicken, 5-7 pounds
• 4 T butter
• 1 T whole grain mustard (I like Maille)
• several sprigs of fresh thyme
• several sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 lemon
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4 cloves whole, peeled garlic
• more fresh thyme and rosemary
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
   


2. Line a roasting pan with foil.


3. Soften the butter in a bowl and add chopped fresh rosemary (just the leaves) and thyme (leaves and stalks) along with 1 T mustard, mix well and set aside.


4. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze out half the juice, reserving it.


5. Rinse the chicken well and don't forget to remove the bags of chicken guts and necks from inside. Trust me, you don't want to roast those. Pat the bird dry and set it, breast side up, in the roasting rack.


6. Cut a few slits in the skin of the breast meat. Pour the juice from the 1/2 lemon over the chicken. Take a few bunches of the herbs and stuff them in the slits under the skin. Sometimes I even cut slits in the meat and force the herbs into the breast meat.


7. Rub the chicken down with the butter mixture.


8. Stuff the chicken with more bunches of herbs, the cloves of garlic, one quartered onion, the squeezed-out lemon half and the unsqueezed lemon half.
   


9. With your handy roll of cooking twine, truss the bird so that nothing pops out of the cavity. Some people also truss up the wings, but I rarely do.


10. Tent with foil and roast in a preheated oven.
    


11. After one hour, take it out and baste with the juices, then remove the foil and put it back in the oven to roast for another hour or so until the juices run clear (not pink) when you poke it with something sharp. Ideally, you can use a meat thermometer in the thigh. It's done when it reads 180.
    
    The total roasting time depends on weight and it goes something like 20 minutes per pound plus an extra 20 minutes. How scientific, no? My 7 pound bird roasted for a good two and a half hours, and a 3 pound bird was done in an hour and a half.
    


12. Move to a carving board to rest 15 minutes before slicing. Serve when ready.
    

Notes:

• On occasion, I have added quartered potatoes, onions and garlic to the bottom of the roasting pan to cook in the accumulated juices of the chicken. While it is as tasty as hell, the end result is often absolutely swimming in grease.


• Lately, when I make the oven-roasted vegetables with this dish, I lay them in a single layer, wrapped in foil and placed on a cookie sheet. That slips onto the rack in the bottom of the oven. I put them in the oven after I check the chicken, one hour into the roasting.
  

For the potatoes:

Ingredients:

• 6 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
• 2 shallots, quartered
• 1 onion, cut into eighths
• fresh thyme
• fresh rosemary
• fresh sage
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T whole grain mustard
• 2 cloves whole, peeled garlic

Directions:

1. Line a cookie sheet with a long piece of foil.


2. Wash and cut the potatoes, put in a big bowl with the shallots, onion and whole garlic.
   


3. Add the olive oil and 1 T of mustard, mix well.


4. Put the vegetables on the foil-lined cookie sheet in a single layer. Cover with another piece of foil and seal it up to make a packet.
   


5. Place in oven and cook for an hour. After an hour, remove the top sheet of foil and let cook another 30 minutes.

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Chicken Tetrazzini

When I was growing up, our school hot lunch menu boasted chicken or turkey tetrazzini every week. I remember trying it once and nearly gagging at the overly-salty thick sauce and the texture of the mushy peas and limp slivered almonds. I swore never to eat anything tetrazzini ever again.

Then, a few years ago, I hosted Christmas for the first time and despite having a houseful of dinner guests, I found myself staring at a plate of leftover turkey meat piled high. There was no way, I thought, that we could possibly get through all of that meat just by eating turkey sandwiches, so I delved into my then-new copy of The Joy of Cooking, desperate for recipes for leftover turkey.

I recall shuddering when I turned the page and glanced down at "Chicken or Turkey Tetrazzini," but as my eyes strolled over the ingredients I thought that it didn't sound half-bad. Why not, right? After all, even though the school lunch pizzas were among the worst I have ever had, I certainly do not shun pizza. Perhaps I had just never had good tetrazzini.

Well, it was delicious, but really, with a luscious sauce made from heavy cream, milk, broth and freshly grated parm, how could it be otherwise?


I make this quite often after I have made a roast chicken, and I have made some adjustments to suit the palates of my kids:

• no almonds - they are not fans of random nuts in their main dishes;
  


• rotini instead of spaghetti or fettucine - if it si a baked pasta dish, they prefer elbows, penne or twisty pasta shapes
  


• individual dishes - this goes straight back to Hell's Kitchen. They are mightily impressed by individual baking dishes; they said that it looks fancier and fancier is usually better. :)
  

Chicken Tetrazzini

Ingredients:

• Cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
• butter
• olive oil
• 4 oz. cremini mushrooms (baby bellas/Italian brown mushrooms), sliced
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• fresh thyme
• sherry
• 2 T flour
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg
• cooked pasta (I cooked up 1/2 of a 1-lb box)
• green peas (cooked)
  
• freshly grated parm
• panko
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   


2. Melt 1 T butter and 2 T olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until the mushroom liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes.
   


3. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes,
   


4. Add the sherry and stir well until the liquid reduces. Turn off the heat and add the shredded, cooked chicken to the skillet, mixing to coat well. Fold in the peas, set aside.
   


5. In a sauce pan, melt 1 1/2 T butter over medium high heat. Add about 3 tablespoons of flour to make a roux. Add the broth, milk, cream, nutmeg salt and pepper, cover and bring to a near-boil. Uncover and reduce heat to low and simmer until thick, about 10 minutes.
   


6. Add 1/2 cup grated parm and stir well.
   


7. Divide the chicken and mushroom mixture into 4 mini casserole dishes, and ladle the sauce over the mixture. Top with panko and more grated parm.
   


8. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and the top starts to brown.
   

If you double this recipe, it should fit into a 2-quart casserole dish and serve 6 quite nicely.

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