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Chicken Fricassee Recipe

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jefferson’s Chicken because it was his favorite meal! It was a regular in the White House during his presidency. Today’s Chicken Fricassee is the original French comfort food made with simmered chicken with hearty vegetables in a rich, silky sauce, and cooked in one pot.

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

Why we love Chicken Fricassee Recipe

It’s a braised dish that’s started on the stove and finished off in the oven. It’s a savory delight! I was taught to make Fricassee while in Culinary School.

Today’s recipe is an authentic French Chicken Fricassee Recipe that was given to me. 

Chicken Picattata With Lemon Caper Sauce 3

Enjoy another recipe from Culinary School — Chicken Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce Recipe

What is Chicken Fricassee Recipe

Julia Child in Mastering the Art of French Cooking describes it as “halfway between a sauté and a stew” in that a saute has no liquid added, while a stew includes liquid from the beginning.

• In a fricassee, cut-up meat is first sautéed (but not browned), then liquid is added and it is simmered to finish cooking.

• Fricassée is a method of cooking meat in which it is cut up, sautéed and braised, and served with its sauce, traditionally a white sauce.

• Many cooking references describe fricassee simply as a French stew, usually with a white sauce.

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

• Recipe for fricassée as far back as the earliest version of the medieval French cookbook Le Viandier, circa 1300. In 1490, it is first referred to specifically as “friquassee”.

• Fricassee of chicken is commonly found, both in modern recipes and earliest ones, but all kinds of meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables only can be found in fricassée dishes.

• This one was one of the many recipes I made during my 2-day final practicals in culinary school a couple of weeks ago.

 

A photo of my Chicken Fricassee Recipe while it was cooking during my final exam in Culinary School:

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

How to make Chicken Fricassee Recipe

  • Wash and dry the chicken pieces.
  • Sprinkle with salt, pepper, nutmeg and paprika.
  • Brown the chicken in hot olive oil over high heat in a Dutch oven; remove the chicken when well browned.
  • Reduce heat to medium, add flour, and cook the flour until lightly browned, stirring constantly.
  • Whisk in water and wine until smooth.
  • Return the chicken to the Dutch oven; bring to a boil.
  • Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.

 

  • Cook 50 minutes. (or bake in oven at 350 degree for 50 min)
  • Remove chicken, keeping warm, reserve broth in large container.
  • Broth may be strained to remove particles.
  • Melt butter in Dutch oven, over medium high heat, add onion, cook until lightly browned.
  • Add mushrooms, sage and parsley.
  • Add broth, half and half, and return the chicken.
  • Cook over medium heat, stirring until thoroughly heated.
  • Served over rice.

SO, with that… I passed the Savory Kitchen with good marks and now moved onto Baking and Pastry with Chef Meghan. The baking kitchen is much smaller (thankfully!)

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

Culinary School Baking & Pastry Kitchen

We’ve been baking all kinds of sweet treats like cookies, quick breads, lemon bars, muffins, breakfast scones, biscuits, brownies and on and on. Here’s a photo of the Pate a Choux (cream puff and eclair shells) that I made last Friday.

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

The trick here is the piping…

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

I had a lot of fun perfecting those little cream puff shells! Here’s a picture of making brownies- which were like fudge, seriously the best Brownie I think I’ve ever eaten.

All the recipes are formulated using Bakers Percentage which means everything is measured out by weight.  

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency! by cookingwithruthie.com

I’ll have to try and play with some recipes at home to see if I can convert them to cups to be able to share with all of you. I’m loving the Baking and Pastry Kitchen so far… this week we start learning all about Breads!  

Most of you know my love of bread- -I’m SO excited to learn all about those delightful loaves.

Yield: 8

Chicken Fricassee Recipe

Chicken Fricassee by www.whatscookingwithruthie.com

Our Chicken Fricassee Recipe is also know as Jeffersons Chicken because it his favorite meal and a regular in the White House during his presidency!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds chicken pieces
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup dry wine
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cups fresh small mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup half and half cream
  • hot cooked rice

Instructions

  1. Wash and dry the chicken pieces.
  2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, nutmeg and paprika.
  3. Brown the chicken in hot olive oil over high heat in a Dutch oven; remove the chicken when well browned.
  4. Reduce heat to medium, add flour, and cook the flour until lightly browned, stirring constantly.
  5. Whisk in water and wine until smooth.
  6. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven; bring to a boil.
  7. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.
  8. Cook 50 minutes. (or bake in oven at 350 degree for 50 min)
  9. Remove chicken, keeping warm, reserve broth in large container.
  10. Broth may be strained to remove particles.
  11. Melt butter in Dutch oven, over medium high heat, add onion, cook until lightly browned.
  12. Add mushrooms, sage and parsley.
  13. Add broth, half and half, and return the chicken.
  14. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thoroughly heated.
  15. Served over rice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 502Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 217mgSodium: 463mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 48g

More Culinary School Recipes

Chicken Mushroom Bake Recipe

Apricot Mango Chutney

Culinary Arts Beef Stroganoff

Homemade Rosemary Gnocchi with Bolagnaise Sauce

Green Chicken Curry with Thai Eggplant

Lamb Chop with Mushroom Spaetzle

Reuben Sandwich

Grilled Artichoke Chicken Pita

Gingerbread Bars with Italian Buttercream Frosting

Ratatouille

• Creamy Risotto

Tomato Sauce

 

Enjoy today’s Chicken Fricassee Recipe with your family and friends!

One more thing before you go…

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Love Always,

Ruthie & Madeliene

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  1. Paula says:

    I’ve been making a different variation of chicken fricassee that was handed down for generations in my mothers side of the family. First the chicken is floured as if to fry and then browned in very little oil. Then celery, onion, slivered carrots and a little garlic are added. Next you add chicken stock or water and bouillon or chicken soup base, cover and simmer about 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. A little milk or evaporated milk is added at the end and simmered a few more minutes or until everything is nicely melded together. It is luscious.

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Paula, I love family recipes- they tie generations together as you have mentioned and to me that’s what cooking is all about! Thank you for sharing your version with us and it does sound very luscious! Have a beautiful day šŸ™‚ ~Ruthie

  2. Kasey says:

    The recipe was kind of bland, I did replace the water with chicken stock which helped a lot, I also added 1 chicken bouillon cube in with the chicken while it cooked down, and then one before I added the half and half. It made a huge difference. I strongly recommend doing that.
    Delicious recipe.

  3. Kerry says:

    Hi there – I found this recipe online and it looked better and more simple than others so I’m giving it a shot. I don’t cook much but I’m in love with my Dutch Oven….this may be a st00pid question but does it matter what kind of onion? White vs yellow? Thanks in advance…

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Kerry… This recipe is a winner and you’ll love it. I usually like yellow onion but white can work just fine too if that’s what you have on hand. Let me know how it goes! xoxo~ RUthie

      • Kerry says:

        Made this yesterday and used yellow onion. It was really good! Gotta love fall-off-the-bone chicken…yum! THANKS!

      • Ruthie says:

        Awesome!! So glad to hear you loved it šŸ™‚ This classic recipe is always a winner! xoxo~ Ruthie

  4. Asma says:

    Hi, the recipe looks interesting but suggest me the alternate for wine or alcohol in general?

    • Ruthie says:

      The typical replacement is chicken stock, it will still taste amazing with this replacement! I love this recipe. Enjoy!! xoxo~ Ruthie

  5. Jenna says:

    What does the water/wine broth look like when its done at 50 min. I’m making a half recipe of this, so I’m not sure if I should cut the time.

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Jenna! The broth will reduce a little bit as it cooks but with the lid on it will retain a lot. You could temp the chicken at 30 minutes and see if it’s up to 165 degrees in the center of a breast. If so then go ahead and finish off the sauce and serve. I haven’t ever baked just a half batch but it will turn out great šŸ™‚ xoxo~ Ruthie

  6. Nikita says:

    This meal came out great!

    • Ruthie says:

      Thank you for the feedback and nice comment… I’m glad to hear that you had success!! Happy New Year! xoxo~ Ruthie

  7. […] ViÅ”tienos troÅ”kinys. VisiÅ”kas komfortas. […]

  8. Treva says:

    Looks delicious! One question: half and half is listed in the ingredient list, but I don’t see it mentioned in the instructions. Am I missing something?

    • Ruthie says:

      Thank you for pointing that out… you add it at the end. I adjusted the recipe now. You’ll LOVE this recipe- it is wonderful. xoxo~ Ruthie

  9. This looks A-MA-ZING, Ruthie! I’m gonna have to try this! Congrats on your class! I am so excited for you. šŸ™‚

    You are so awesome!
    xoxo
    Traci

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