Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!

Growing up one of my favorite homemade meals was my Nan’s homemade chicken soup. Unlike most homemade chicken soups, her soup was creamy and stew-like, it was the perfect soup to fill you up on a cold winter day. When I was passed down the recipe I’d never made a homemade soup, and was a little surprised at some of the ingredients such as “one can of cream of chicken soup” (which made it seem less homemade if that makes sense), but it was one of my favorites and I didn’t really care too much about the using processed ingredients and continued making the recipe to a T.

Fast forward to last year when I stumbled upon a a traditional french chicken stew recipe called a “Fricassée”. The list of ingredients was pretty lengthy and I had no idea what to expect, but I was excited to try something new.  Although I didn’t know what to expect, I certainly didn’t expect this dish to be an even more delicious version of my Nan’s soup (plus it didn’t have the can of soup it in)!

This is now my go-to chicken “soup”, and I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count, and have made a few adjustments over time. The most notable change is that I’ve made this recipe gluten-free by using chickpea flour instead of all purpose flour, and have changed the cooking times so that the soup reduces and thickens a little more.

This is a fantastic dish and it actually quite easy to make despite the fancy french name.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do in our home!

Pat down your chicken and remove any excess water – this will help the chicken brown better, and season it with salt and pepper. Set the chicken aside for a couple of minutes and start preheating your Dutch Oven with some olive oil for about 5 minutes.  To know if your oil is ready wet the tip of your fingers and sprinkle a little water in the oil; if it sizzles your oil is ready to go.

Place a couple of pieces chicken into the oil, making sure not overcrowd the pan – you might need to do this in batches. Using a pair of kitchen tongs, rotate the chicken every few minutes to make sure it browns evenly on all sides. Once browned transfer the chicken to a clean plate and continue until all the chicken has been browned.

Lower the heat on the stove and using the same oil you fried your chicken with, start sauteing your mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery) and cook for about 10 minutes,  then add your mushroom and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Next thing you want to do is sprinkle your flour over the veggies, making sure all the veggies get evenly coated. Technically you can dump all the flour and mix it into your veggies, but I find that it makes things easier if you do this gradually so that the flour doesn’t clump up and burn on the bottom of your pot. The flour will help thicken the soup, but in order to prevent your food from having a raw flour taste, you want to make sure you cook it for about 5 minutes on LOW heat before adding any liquid; so don’t rush this step because that little bit of extra time really goes a long way. Lastly don’t forget to scrape up those chicken bits stuck on the bottom of your pan; they may not look prettiest but they add a really nice flavor leftover from the chicken 😊.

Once all the flour has absorbed into the veggies, add your wine and stir continuously to help the liquid thicken, then add your stock, thyme and bay leaf into the pot and bring the liquid to a boil.

Return your chicken into the pot by placing it on top of the veggies (skin side up),  partially cover your dutch oven, lower the heat and let everything simmer for about 20-25 minutes.

Check on your chicken after about 20 minutes, and if you see that it’s cooked, remove it from the liquid and transfer it to a clean plate. If you’re uncertain whether or not your chicken is done, use a cooking thermometer and check the thickest part of the the meat is at least 165º – using a meat thermometer is always the most accurate way to know if your meat is cooked.

At this point you’ll notice that the liquid is still pretty thin and runny, so in order to help thicken it a little more, we’re going to let it reduce with the cover off for another 10 minutes AND make a “liaison”.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term liaison, neither was I until I made my first fricassee and don’t worry it’s pretty simple. Liaison is a term used to describe thickening sauce with eggs and heavy cream. To do this  start by whipping your egg yolk and dairy together in a medium size bowl, then gradually whisk in small amount of the cooking liquid to temper the eggs and cream which will prevent them from scrambling and curdling when you add them to the larger pot. This little step drastically upped my cooking skills and since learning how to temper my eggs and dairy I’ve almost never curdled milk or “scrambled” eggs in my sauces, soups etc.. (I say ALMOST never because I’ve been in a rush and skipped this step in an effort to save 2 minutes and ended up with chunks of milk and/or egg – my fault, not the technique’s).

So once your liaison is ready, mix it into the hot pot, turn off the heat, add some fresh lemon juice and fresh tarragon, bring your chicken back into the pot and serve!