Chicken Fricassee was always something that I sort of liked, but felt was too greasy and too heavy. I liked the idea of it though. Last year I came across a great recipe that fixed those issues, but which I still felt could use a few modifications. Try my recipe below for a full-flavored fricassee that is minus the grease and very light on the lactose. It’s not a difficult recipe but does take a good hour to make. The time is well worth it as your family will really like it. Even my 5 year old loves the “soup” as she calls it and will eat a bowl of that without anything else.

You’ll note that I mention a large range in the amount of chicken. My family likes more “soup”, if you do as well, follow us. If you aren’t a fan of chicken thighs, feel free to use white meat instead. Just be careful on the cooking times as white meat can dry out pretty quickly.

Ingredients

• 2-4 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 4 T unsalted butter
• 10 oz of button mushrooms, quartered (I prefer crimini)
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 large carrots (or as I call it, enough carrots equal the onions and mushrooms)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp minced fresh thyme
• 3 T flour
• ½ c dry white wine
• 2-1/2 c chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• ½-2/3 cup of milk (I prefer 1%)
• Frozen peas
• 1/8 c T fresh lemon juice
• Minced fresh parsley (optional)
• Egg noodles, extra wide

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ½ the chicken (if using 2 lbs, it should all fit in now) and cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Pour off fat from Dutch oven as needed. Repeat process to brown the rest of the chicken.

   

Pour off any leftover grease in the pot. Add the butter and heat over medium until melted. Add the mushrooms, onions, carrots and ¼ tsp of salt. Cook until the vegetables are brown, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and thyme. Then stir in the flour until it is well mixed with the vegetables. Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the broth and bay leaves. Place the chicken and any accumulated juices into the pot.

Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.

While chicken is simmering, boil water in a medium pot and cook some extra wide egg noodles.

Transfer chicken a dish and cover with foil.

Add the milk to the sauce plus ~ 1 cup of frozen peas and simmer about 5 minutes (longer for a thicker sauce). Season with salt and pepper per your taste (I don’t usually add any now, but some like to). Remove the bay leaves. Stir in lemon juice (per taste – I like a little more, but be careful you do not add too much).

Put egg noodles in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Place chicken on top. Then ladle the sauce over both. Sprinkle parsley on top (optional) and eat.

Enjoy!