Quick Chicken Fricassee

This weekend, I went home to my mom's house for the first time since Christmas (oops). Despite the Amtrak delays that seemed determined to thwart my journey home, and the couplet of blackouts on Saturday that nearly destroyed our Kinders-soaked steaks, it was relatively relaxing. My brother and I drove up to our local mountain – everyone should have a local mountain, don't you know? – and hiked about in the patchy yet miraculously low snow. My mom and I shopped a bit. I read a bit.

I also finally got a chance to look through the Cook's magazines I had left at home, to which my dad got me a subscription months ago, but which I keep forgetting to browse. I was missing out, ignoring them for so long! They do marvelous things with snow peas.

One recipe caught my eye immediately: Quick Chicken Fricassee. Even though I was supposed to be home relaxing, I just had to make it.

I apologize in advance for the abhorrent quality of the following photograph. We were all hungry, and had no patience to hold still and take pictures in the rapidly-fading light. This, sadly, was the best of the lot.






QUICK CHICKEN FRICASSEE
slightly adapted from a recipe by Andrea Geary at Cook's Magazine

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound crimini** mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps wiped clean and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through garlic pressed (about 1 teaspoon)
1-1/2 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon OR parsley


Directions

1. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.*** Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, place chicken in skillet and cook until browned, about 4 minutes.**** Flip chicken and continue to cook until browned on second side, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to large plate.

2. Add mushrooms, onion, and wine to now-empty skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are browned, 8-10 minutes. Add flour and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add broth and bring mixture to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted into breasts (or, when insides are no longer pink).

3. Transfer chicken to clean platter and tent loosely with foil. Whisk sour cream and egg yolk together in medium bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly stir 1/2 cup sauce into sour cream mixture. Stirring constantly, slowly pour cream mixture into simmering sauce. Stir in nutmeg, lemon juice, and parsley/tarragon; return to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.*****


* All we had were chicken tenders. I made nine, so there would be enough for each of us to have three. This was enough food when served with rice and some vegetables.

** We bought white button mushrooms. We didn't use the whole pound, as my brother doesn't eat mushrooms (or vegetables in general).

*** I just used a dash of pepper. We're not pepper people.

**** Obviously, if using chicken tenders, the cook time for each side will be less than four minutes.

***** For us, it made three servings. There was a tiny bit extra sauce.