A recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly “World Table” cookbook.
CHICKEN, MUSHROOM AND LEEK FRICASSEE: an easy recipe that makes enough for 6 and that you can freeze.
2 tablesppons olive oil
1.5kg chicken thighs fillets, quartered
3 rindless bacon slices (195g), chopped coarsely
45g butter
3 medium leeks (1kg), trimmed, sliced thinly
3 stalks celery (450g), trimmed, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 ½ cups (375ml) dry white wine
1 ½ cups (375ml) chicken stock
400g button mushrooms
1/4 cup (60ml) pouring cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Method:
- Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F.
- Heat oil in large heavy-based flameproof dish. Cook chicken, in batches, until browned all over. Remove from dish.
- Cook bacon, stirring, in same dish until browned lightly.
- Add butter and leek; cook, stirring occasionally, until leek softens. Stir in celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Stir in flour, then wine and stock; bring to the boil, stirring.
- Stir in chicken and mushrooms; transfer to oven. Cook about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened slightly.
- Return dish to stove top, discard bay leaves; stir in cream and parsley. Simmer, uncovered, until casserole is heated through. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
- eat!
Make sure you use a big dish, there is quite a lot of food in there!
I found that the sauce hadn’t quite thickened enough while cooking in the oven. So I cooked the dish on the stove top for a bit longer and added the cream and parsley right at the end.
Serve with rice.
