Chicken Fricassee – ragout of chicken, asparagus and mushrooms

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 1 soup chicken
• 1 tsp juniper berries
• 1 tsp allspice berries
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• Bouquet garni (marjoram, rosemary, thyme – a few sprigs each)
• ½ leek(s)
• 2 carrots
• ½ celeriac
• 1 vegetable onion(s)
• 200 g mushrooms
• 1 onion(s)
• 200 g carrot(s)
• 400 g white asparagus
• 1 liter vegetable broth or chicken broth
• 1 tbsp oil
• 150 g peas
• 100 g butter
• 50 g flour
• ⅛ celeriac
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 1 carrot(s)
• 1 onion(s)
• 1 tsp allspice berries
• 1 tsp peppercorns or pepper berries
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ leek(s)
• 500 ml chicken broth
• 2 stalks of thyme
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 200 ml cream
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 4 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours 30 minutes

Chicken Fricassee – a classic

Roughly chop the leeks, onions, celery, and carrots and add them to the chicken in a large pot or roasting pan with the spices. Add enough water to cover all the ingredients and simmer with the lid tilted for 4-4.5 hours. Strain, remove the skin, bones, and tendons from the chicken, then remove the meat and cut or shred it into bite-sized pieces. Set the stock aside. Cut the mushrooms, onions, carrots, and asparagus into bite-sized pieces. Briefly sauté in oil in a pan and deglaze with a little of the stock. Simmer until the carrots and asparagus are tender. Add the chicken. For the béchamel sauce, chop the celery, garlic, carrots, onions, and leeks. Melt the butter in a small pot and sauté the vegetables. Add a little flour and stir briefly until the flour and butter are combined. Then deglaze with the chicken stock and add the thyme, rosemary, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Simmer everything for about 5 to 10 minutes. Next, add the peas to the pot with the chicken and vegetables. Then, strain through the béchamel sauce and add a generous splash of cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with “Risi e bisi” (Rice and Biscuits) and freshly chopped parsley.