Chicken Fricassee with Wild Mushrooms →

In culinary terminology, a “fricassee” is a dish of pan-fried meat or pieces of poultry served with a pan sauce comprised of aromatics and often mushrooms. This comforting dish comes together quickly and is easy enough to make mid-week for the family, yet elegant enough to serve company. The combination of wild mushrooms, tomatoes, white wine, both beef and chicken stock, heavy cream, and herbs of your choice, produces a deliciously rich sauce full of umami that is sure to please your family or guests. I hope you enjoy it.

Chicken Fricassee with Wild Mushrooms
Serves 4
Ingredients:

• ¼ cup butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil (EVOO)

• 4 boneless chicken thighs

• 6 ounces of wild mushrooms chopped (shiitake, maitake, cremini, chanterelle, oyster, etc.)

• 1 large shallot chopped

• 1-2 teaspoons of herbs de Provence (equal measures of summer savory, dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil, and fennel seed.)

• garlic powder

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1 cup beef stock

• 1/3 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup of peeled, diced tomatoes

• salt and pepper

• chopped fresh parsley for garnish 

Preparation:

1. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, garlic powder, and herbs de Provence.

2. In a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon of EVOO and brown the chicken on both sides. Remove the chicken to a platter and tent.

3. Add the chopped shallot and mushrooms and sauté over medium heat until the mushrooms have released their water and just begin to brown. If the skillet starts to burn, add a small amount of liquid to allow the mushrooms to finish cooking. Remove the sauteed mixture to a bowl and reserve.

4. Add the wine, tomatoes, and both stocks to the pan, bring to a boil, and reduce to about ¾ cup.

5. Add the heavy cream and stir to mix; add the mushrooms and mix; add the chicken and simmer (don’t boil) for a few minutes until thoroughly heated through. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your taste. Serve garnished with chopped fresh parsley. 

Wine pairing: white wines with body and good acid to balance the richness of the sauce; un-oaked Chardonnay, Chablis, Soave, Vernaccia, Albariño, or Viognier. A chilled Rosé might also be a nice choice.

Adapted from a recipe from Bon Appétit special edition on recipes of Spain, May 1992

Chicken Saltimboca with Marsala Wine Sauce →

In Italy, Saltimbocca (meaning “to jump in the mouth”) consists of thin slices of veal stuffed with prosciutto, sage, and a melted cheese, sometimes accompanied by a wine sauce. This recipe is an interpretation of the traditional dish served in Italy and found here in the United States on menus of many good Italian restaurants. For my purposes, I chose to use butterflied chicken breasts in place of veal; used fontina for the cheese; added spinach, and made a sauce from Marsala wine. The ingredients list is a bit long, but the dish is flavorful and elegant enough to serve to dinner guests and it won’t break the family budget. In place of traditional heavy cream, I opted to make a roux to create a lighter Marsala sauce saving calories and cholesterol for another time. Served over egg noodles or pappardelle, or polenta accompanied by sauteed broccoli or broccolini, or a mixed green salad, it will jump in your mouth. I hope you like it. Enjoy!

Chicken Saltimbocca with Marsala Wine Sauce
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 1 ¾ cups chicken broth

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 handfuls of baby spinach rinsed

• 1 clove of garlic minced

• a pinch of hot pepper flakes

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

• 4 large sage leaves

• 2 slices of prosciutto cut crosswise in half

• 4 thin slices of fontina cheese about 2 x 2 ½ inches

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• ½ cup of dry Marsala wine

Optional: toasted sage leaves or chopped parsley for garnish. 

PREPARATION
Pre-heat your oven to 200 F.

1. In a saucepan over high heat, bring the chicken broth to a boil and reduce it by half. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, and add the minced garlic and pepper flakes stirring for about a minute. Don’t burn the garlic. Add the baby spinach, lemon juice, and lemon zest and sauté until the spinach has wilted. Remove the spinach mixture from the skillet and set aside. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.

3. Cut across each chicken breast so you have two pieces roughly the same size. Carefully butterfly (slice) each half lengthwise leaving about an inch uncut at one side of each breast piece.

4. Open the butterflied breast pieces, placing each butterflied half of a breast between two layers of plastic wrap. Gently pound each with a meat mallet or rolling pin to flatten each piece to a uniform thickness of about ½ inch thick.

5. Lay the pounded pieces open and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a tablespoon of cooked spinach, a sage leaf, a piece of prosciutto, and a slice of fontina on each piece and fold over the other half of the butterflied chicken to create a “sandwich”.

6. Add flour to a flat plate and carefully dredge both sides of the chicken “sandwiches” in the flour, shaking off any excess flour. Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in the skillet over moderately high heat until the foam subsides, then sauté the chicken “sandwiches” until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes on each side), carefully turning over once. At that point, the cheese should be starting to melt and ooze out of the stuffed “sandwiches”. Transfer the cooked chicken to a large heatproof platter or sheet pan and tent placing the platter in a warm oven.

7. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel. Over medium heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the shallot and fresh sage for a minute or two (don’t burn the shallot). Add a tablespoon of butter to melt. Sprinkle two to three teaspoons of flour over the shallots and stir until the flour is well incorporated and just beginning to brown on the bottom of the skillet. (You’re making a roux: more flour = thicker sauce.)

8. Add the chicken broth and wine to the skillet, stirring constantly until you have a smooth sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper to your preference. *Optional: a few drops of lemon juice at the end will brighten the sauce.
9. Carefully return the pieces of chicken to the skillet with the sauce and heat over medium-low heat until you can see the cheese has melted. Serve the chicken with sauce. Garnish with toasted sage. (optional)
10. Serve with sauce over egg noodles, pappardelle, or polenta.

Wine pairing: an un-oaked Chardonnay or Burgundy, Rueda, Vernaccia, Pinot grigio, Viognier, or
dry-Riesling; for red wines, a Barbera, chilled Rosé, Pinot Noir, or Beaujolais would also work.