Creole Fricassee of Chicken a la Jardiniere

This isn't a new twist on an old standby. It's an old twist on an old standby.

Chicken fricassee holds a special place in Creole cuisine - front and center. It is so fundamental, so basic that to an old Creole it must have seemed quite ordinary. But thumbing through archived recipes of a century ago (in The Times Picayune Creole Cookbook), one can see that it did not have to be ordinary. It could be transformed into something stupendous. Fricassee a la Jardiniere is an outright celebration, a showcase of the best of the garden.

You begin with the chicken fricassee - a sauté of chicken, braised in sauce with aromatics, swimming in gravy, laced with green onion - but then you get extravagant. There are already vegetables in the fricassee. That was just part of the foreplay.

Now for the showcase vegetables - they are our second line. And it can be everything a second line should be. Arrange them on top of the fricassee, in and out of the gravy, nestled among drumstick, thigh and breast. Then finish it all in a hot oven.

FIRST LINE FRICASSEE

 

1 C (in all) olive oil

1 1/2 C (in all) flour

1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces

salt and pepper

2 carrots diced

1 1/2 C diced onion

1 C diced fennel bulb

3/4 C diced bell pepper

3/4 C diced celery

3 T finely chopped garlic

1 C green onions, sliced, with a good bit of green - Note: the green onions are not to be added until the braise is finished.

2 C chicken broth

1 can condensed beef broth

3/4 C white wine

2 t paprika

1/2 t cayenne

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t white pepper

4-5 springs of fresh thyme
Sour cream (optional) 

1. Generously salt and pepper the chicken pieces. Scatter 1 C flour on a plate, and dredge chicken in flour, thoroughly coating each piece.

2. In Dutch oven, over medium high heat, bring 1/2 C oil to shimmering, then brown the chicken, in two batches so as not to over-crowd, 3 or 4 minutes a side, till golden brown all over; set aside.

3. Discard oil, wipe pan - but do not disturb any brown crust left on the bottom - do remove any burnt spots - and add 1/2 C fresh oil.

4. PREHEAT OVEN to 375

5. Blend in 1/2 C flour, stir until smooth, and cook over medium heat, still stirring occasionally, till you have a golden brown roux.

6. Stir in all the vegetables except the green onions, and stir, stir - till vegetables are wilting. Then add paprika, cayenne, black and white pepper - still stirring.

7. Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring until well incorporated. As it thickens, add the consume, a little at a time, and then the wine - still stirring -

8. Place the chicken back in the pot, cover. Lower heat and simmer 45 minutes.

9. Stir in the green onions. You might wish to stir in some sour cream, too.

And the fricassee is basically done. Now to make it a la jardiniere.

SECOND LINE VEGETABLES

10. Add your second line vegetables to the fricassee after it has been braised for 45 minutes. Keep them on the surface - at least don’t fully submerge them. But do make sure everything is at least moistened in the sauce. With tongs lift exposed pieces of chicken enough to allow some crisping of skin.

11. Then place Dutch oven in oven, uncovered, on an upper rack, and cook 15 minutes.

Artichoke. This recipe should feed to bursting four people. So an artichoke, quartered, will provide each an interesting diversion. If you have more than four people, you might wish to cut it into eighths. Or use two artichokes. Bring to a boil enough water to cover the artichoke, add the juice of a lemon, the lemon itself, a bay leaf, a couple of garlic cloves, a teaspoon of peppercorns and some olive oil - don't forget the artichoke. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove,  and drain. Cut off the stem, peel it and slice it. Cut the artichoke in half, length wise. Carefully remove the spiny choke and the tough inner leaves; then - with cut side facing down - carefully slice the halves in two.

Cauliflower. Cut it in half, lengthwise. Half a cauliflower should be plenty (save the other half for a salad). Cut florets from the stalk, and halve the larger ones if it will make the general size more uniform. Over high heat, bring about a quart of water to a boil. In a large bowl, prepare an ice water bath. Drop the florets into the boiling water, give it a few seconds to get back up to a boil, and cook 3 minutes. Remove the florets and drop into the ice water bath. When cool, remove.

Corn. Boil an ear or two for 10 minutes. Remove, and cut into 1/2 inch roundels.

Green peas. 1/C fresh, blanched for three minutes; or thawed frozen - no precooking necessary.

Cherry tomatoes. Especially if you can find a variety of sizes and colors. 1 C should suffice.  

Serve over rice - or dirty rice. Get casual. Use your hands - with the artichoke and the corn, you’ll have to.

There are of course a lot of other options for the second line vegetables: spring onions, roasted in foil; wedges of fennel bulb, roasted without the foil; roasted garlic, patty pan squash, red chilis; blanched asparagus or broccoli florets - and on and on.