Chicken Fricassee
In Treacherous Shoal the Demarest family enjoys chicken fricassee at a family dinner.
This recipe is based on one in Dining with the Washingtons and the recipe collection of Harriott Pinckney Horry. The term fricassee comes from the French, and originally meant a meat browned and then cooked in a sauce. The many variations in 18th century cookbooks indicate that term had evolved considerably, but always involved meat simmered in a rich, egg-based sauce. Anchovies were often added to deepen the flavor; they performed the same function in many sauces of the time, and in Worcestershire sauce today.
Harriott Pinckney Horry recommended adding capers or mushrooms to the finished sauce. She also suggested the addition of fried oysters, a variation the modern cook may wish to avoid. She served her fricassee on sippets, pieces of toasted bread similar to croutons. You might also serve it on boiled rice for a truly South Carolina touch.
2 lb chicken pieces
2 cups chicken bone broth
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup white wine
Half a lemon, sliced
2 shallots, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon mace
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 anchovies (or 2 teaspoons Worcestershire or fish sauce)
Ingredients
Directions
Put the chicken in a Dutch oven with the broth. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, the wine, shallots, nutmeg, mace, lemon, and anchovies.
Bring to a boil, stir, then cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Add water if needed.
Remove the chicken and set aside, keeping it warm. Strain the broth, pressing the liquid out of the solids with the back of a spoon. Return the liquid to the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer.
In a small bowl, mash together the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter with the flour. Slowly mix in a little of the broth, and when it becomes a liquid, whisk into the rest of the broth. Simmer for two minutes or so, until the broth thickens slightly.
Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks until smooth, then whisk in the cream. Slowly whisk into the broth. Heat until it is just simmering, stirring constantly. Do not let it boil lest the yolks curdle.
Return the chicken pieces to the sauce and turn about until they are completely coated.
Serve on boiled rice or sippets.
