Chicken Fricassee Special

A classic French dish, chicken fricassee is a kind of stew where the chicken is simmered and slowly cooked in white wine and cream. In this recipe, the chicken pieces are browned in butter and cooked in cream and white wine, and enhanced with onions, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, laurel leaf, salt and pepper. This recipe by Chef Georges Blanc is served at his gastronomic restaurant and made with the famous Bresse chicken or Poulet de Bresse.

Poulet de Bresse is a special breed of chicken from the Rhone-Alps in France and is considered to be one of the best quality chickens in the world. It is highly prized for its tender meat, clean and delicious fat, and distinctive depth of flavor. It has a very high demand in France and thus it is rarely found outside of the country. In France, they take food labels very seriously and for chicken, they have five levels of categorization, according to the method of production. The five categories include standard boiler, certified, label rouge, organic, and Bresse. Of the five, the Bresse chicken is considered to be the most superior in quality. It is grown free-range, and fed exclusively with milk and grain, producing very tender and flavorful meat.

Of course, you can still make this dish using free-range organic chicken raised in your local farm, which is a better quality than commercially raised chickens. When cooking chicken fricassee, use a large and heavy-bottomed pot for even heat distribution and to prevent the cream from burning. The whole chicken is chopped into pieces before they are added to the pot. They are browned in butter to seal in their juices before the liquid is added to simmer the chicken and cook them through. You can also add the chicken liver in the dish near the end of the cooking if you want a subtly bitter bite or you can leave them out and use for another recipe. Check out some new recipes at Gourmandia.ca

Ingredients

1 chicken (about 4.4 lbs.)
14 ½ tablespoons butter
2 cup double cream (40-45% fat content)
12 baby onions (cut into 4 – 5 chunks each)
3 garlic cloves, mushrooms
1 1/4 cups white wine, thyme
1 laurel leaf
pepper, salt

1. Cut chicken into eight pieces. Place pieces in a pot with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Add chopped onions, four or five garlic cloves, and some mushrooms. Add bay leaf and thyme. Cook until it turns a golden brown color, then sprinkle with white wine. Add cream. Cover and leave to cook for forty minutes.

2. Take the chicken out and place in a saucepan. Add some water to the cream. Strain the liquid to take out the herb garnishing and then pour into the chicken and heat for a little bit more. Season according to taste. Arrange on a dish and serve.

Chicken Peanut Butter Stew

We've all known and loved peanut butter since childhood. What would our school lunches or couch-potato snacks have been without peanut butter or any other sandwich recipes like PB&J sandwich? Whether you're a fan of creamy or chunky, peanut butter has always had a place in American culture. But have you ever wondered how peanut butter came about? And how did it become so popular? In honor of National Peanut Butter Day, which is January 24, we delve into some peanut butter history and trivia.

Peanut butter actually dates back to Aztec times. The Aztecs mashed roasted peanuts into a paste, somewhat different from what we know of as peanut butter today. But many people have been credited with the title of peanut-butter-inventor, among them George Washington Carver. However, he did not invent peanut butter; instead he promoted more than 300 uses for peanuts, among other crops such as soy beans and sweet potatoes.

The actual invention of peanut butter, its process of manufacture and the machinery used to make it, can be credited to at least three doctors/inventors. In 1884 Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Canada patented peanut paste, the finished product from milling roasted peanuts between two heated surfaces. In 1895 Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (the creator of Kellogg's cereal) patented a process for creating peanut butter from raw peanuts. He marketed it as a healthy protein substitute for patients without teeth.Now in the modern days we use peanut in many different ways like on salads, sandwiches of course or just as a dip. Based on a traditional African dish, this stew uses peanut butter to add unique flavor.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken ((3 to 3 ½ lbs, cut into 10 pieces)
1 teaspoon salt
15 oz. whole tomatoes in juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced stirred with 1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (room temperature)
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 lb. sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 in. chunks
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery

1. Lay the chicken pieces out on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. In the meantime, place the tomatoes (with the liquid from their can) in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add ¼ cup of water and stir until well blended.

3. Pour oil into a large, heavy skillet placed over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook in batches until golden on every side. Remove with tongs and place in a 7 quart pot.

4. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from skillet. Add the onion and sauté until golden Add tomato-water mixture, tomato paste, garlic-salt mixture, and cayenne.

5. In a bowl, stir together the peanut butter and 1 cup stock. Stir in the peanut butter mixture, ¾ cup of stock to the pot, carrots, and celery. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then until chicken is tender.

6. Stir the sweet potato into stew. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the potato is tender.