Eat for Less: My Mother’s Chicken Fricassee

When I was a little girl I didn’t call this chicken fricassee; this was my mother and her friends when they shared cooking tips.

I called it ‘white chicken’.

My son used to call it ‘baby stew’; now he simply tells me that he eats it not because he enjoys it but because it is all good protein. Well, this is called ‘growing up’.

I still like it though. This is why, last week I opened my mother’s old cook book and found a recipe for chicken fricassee.

You can see the result on the picture; and Suzi the Dog seems to be very impressed with my culinary effort.

This is what you need to cook chicken fricassee

• Chicken (You can buy either a whole chicken or a mixture of chicken thighs and breasts.)
• Vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp. plain flour
• 2-3 tbsp. butter
• 2-3 egg yolks
• 1-2 lemons
• Flat leaf parsley to garnish

Preparation

Cut the chicken (if you use a whole chicken) and boil it in the vegetable stock (adding salt to taste).

When the chicken is ready, take it out of the stock. Strain the stock to get rid of all bits from the chicken and keep.

Place the butter in a moderate size pan or pot with thick base.

Melt the butter over moderate heat.

Add the flour and turn until it reaches a golden shade. Star adding the chicken stock a little bit at the time. (This is like making sauce béchamel and you ought to make sure that the mixture is smooth. I cheat here and use an egg beater to make it smooth. Adding the liquid gradually also helps.)

When you’ve reached the consistency of a runny sauce leave to boil for approximately 10 minutes.

(Note: Don’t worry if you add a bit more chicken stock: you can boil it down to the consistency you like.)

Beat the eggs and add half a cup of the hot chicken stock. You have to do this gradually so the egg doesn’t curdle.

Pour the egg and chicken stock mix in the white sauce while stirring. Simmer for several minutes (until the sauce is fairly thick). Add the juice of a lemon or two (depends on your taste) and stir.

Place the boiled chicken in a serving. Pour the sauce over it.

Chop the parsley and sprinkle over.

Serve this dish warm with rice or mash potato.

Finally…

Okay.

Honestly? This got mixed reviews in my house.

Suzi the Dog and I loved it.

My son thought it is at least a good source of protein.

John was left lukewarm by it and kept suggesting ways to improve it (with John this is pretty much ‘I really hate this one but I’ll eat it because I don’t want to offend’)

I still say that it is a treat: it is inexpensive (all depends on where you get the chicken but it will still work out at between £1 and 40 pence per serving), it has very delicate taste and it is very fast to prepare.

It is also unusual dish so you can use it to impress dinner guests.

Try it this weekend and let me know what you think.