Chicken Fricassée and Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad

The days are getting shorter. These are dangerous days, as Joel referred to them the other day, because the weather is getting cooler, which causes you to revisit the sweaters and long pants in your wardrobe, which makes you remember what nice clothes you have during other times of the year. They're like old friends you haven't seen for awhile. And when you put your shorts back on, you pine a little for the long pants, for getting to bundle up with those knitted scarves and hats, and for eating dinner in the dark. No, wait. I will never look forward to dinner in the dark. And no, I will never wish away summer.

I've noticed the light levels change in my now-shadowy walk to the bus stop, and when I arrive at the bus plaza, where the sun hasn't quite reached the bench where I sit at 7:15 a.m. like it usually does in the height of summer.

It's 7:30 p.m. now, time for dinner, and the sun is behind the houses and the kitchen feels dark. These are heavy chicken dinner days. And anyway, I kind of missed cooking with my French oven these last few months.

And so, from my heaviest cookbook, I Know How to Cook, I lend you this recipe for Chicken Fricassée.

You should probably hold off until the weekend to make such a meal, but it's a good experience for those of us who are up for a challenge. IKHC recipes are brief instructions and aren't for the inexperienced. It doesn't hold your hand through the process but rather expects that you've done this stuff before or have observed it done by someone else (your French mom). I'm providing the recipe for Chicken Fricassée with my notes and adjustments so you know precisely how I made it (and enjoyed it). You could look up other variations to find just the right taste for you, but I must say this was a nice baseline for someone who had never had the dish, but really just relished in saying the name (chicken frick-a-see!).

Also, a note about how the French make rice: they boil it like pasta, which means you keep the lid off and don't care about the amount of water that goes into it, as long as it's enough for the rice to boil freely. The recipe for "Indian rice" that the cookbook calls for in this dish adds butter plus baking in a slow oven after it's mostly cooked. I think you could make regular rice and be just fine, but the butter creates a creamier taste. 

Chicken Fricassée with Indian Rice

adapted from I Know How to Cook

serves 4, with some left over

3 1/2 lbs. chicken pieces (bone-in, skin-on)

1 bouquet garni (whatever herbs are in your garden; I used a couple sprigs each of rosemary and thyme)

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

4 T. butter

scant 1 c. white wine (I used Pinot Gris)

salt and pepper

1 batch of Indian Rice (recipe follows)

4 oz. crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped

juice of one small lemon, about 2 tsp., or to taste

2 egg yolks, beaten

First, you make a quick stock. Place chicken pieces in a heavy pot and cover with 6 1/3 c. water. Add the bouquet garni, carrot and onion. Bring to a boil and turn it down to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Drain the chicken pieces and pat them dry. Save scant 1 c. of the stock (and save the rest for future use!) and set aside. Melt butter in same pot over medium heat and return the chicken to the pot to fry for a few minutes. You don't need to let them brown; just turn them every couple minutes. After about 5 minutes, add the wine and the reserved cooking liquid, season with salt and pepper and boil it for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the rice. Remove the chicken pieces and cover them to keep them warm. Strain the liquid in the pot through a fine mesh strainer and return it to the pot. Bring the heat back up to medium and add the mushrooms, cooking until the liquid has reduced by a third. Add the lemon juice and egg yolks, stirring constantly to thicken the sauce.

You can return the chicken to the pot to coat in the sauce, or spoon the sauce over the chicken and the rice. 

Indian Rice

1 3/4 c. long-grain white rice

2 T. butter

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the rice and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and place in an oven-safe dish (with a lid), fold in the butter, close tightly with a lid and leave in the oven for 20 minutes.

Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad (a nice accompaniment)
adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Serves 4, as a side

1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2 in. thick circles
2 T. olive oil
half a medium onion, minced
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, minced (quantity of seeds to your taste)
1 green onion, sliced thin
pinch of ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
For serving, to taste
lemon
salt
fresh cilantro
Greek yogurt

Place carrots in a pot, cover with salted water and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 8 minutes, leaving them a little crunchy. Drain them in a colander and let them dry a bit.

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onions over medium heat, until soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots, garlic, green onion, jalapeño, all the spices and the vinegar. Remove from heat and sprinkle well with salt and stir. Let it sit for a bit to cool. This salad tastes lovely at room temperature.

When ready to serve, garnish as you wish with the lemon, salt, cilantro and yogurt. (Didn't use the latter two ingredients in this case, but will with the leftovers when I eat it for lunch!)