Chicken Fricassee (American style)

by Suzanne on November 27, 2012

in Savory

If you have never heard of this dish let’s say it together “Chicken Frick-a-see”, that’s it you got it. This is a German dish but I have made it more American style because of a few small changes. In the traditional dish of a creamy white sauce with chicken and vegetables, the asparagus are white not green. Chopped onions are not usually found in the sauce and you wouldn’t saute the mushrooms. The mushrooms used would be canned and so would the asparagus, well at least that is what my recipe book called for. Fresh vegetables are always better than canned and so that is why I made those changes. A whole chicken is usually used and cooked stock like with carrots, celery and onion but for time sake I skipped ahead and used just breast meat and a quick stock. If you prefer you may use canned stock or broth to cook your chicken in for even more flavor.

Why did I choose to make a German dish? Well, we are hosting a German foreign exchange student for the school year, her name is Michelle and she was craving some food from home. Michelle knew I liked to cook before she came here so she brought me a gift of a German cookbook (so sweet) and this was one of the recipes in the book that she said was her favorite. After reading through the recipe I decided that this was a basic creamy white sauce dish with mild flavors of vegetables and chicken. It seems like a lot of ingredients for a simple dish but it really isn’t difficult. I enjoyed the background flavor the cloves gave the cooking broth of the chicken. Michelle helped me with making this dish by prepping the veggies and I had her taste testing as we went along. Michelle said everyone’s Chicken Fricassee is a little different and mine tasted like her Grandmother’s, I took that to be a good compliment. We have thoroughly enjoyed having Michelle here and learning more about her culture and sharing ours with her. She is a joy to have and I feel like she is one of our children now too. I may share some of her other favorite recipes in the future on my blog since we had a great time cooking together. I hope you might try something a little different in your cooking repertoir but not so different that you can’t make it.

Chicken Fricassee (American style)

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast
1 bay leaf
1/2 onion left whole
5 whole cloves
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups water
For the Sauce:
2 T. butter
1/2 onion chopped
5 T. flour
2 1/2 cup cooking liquid from chicken
6 oz. fresh mushrooms quartered
1 small package of frozen asparagus or fresh where available
1 tsp. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
2 egg yolks
4 T. whipping cream
fresh ground pepper
salt
Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Step 1: In a large pot put the water, chicken, bay leaf, cloves, salt and half the onion in. To make it easier to keep a hold of the cloves you may poke them into the onion. Cook on low heat covered until it boils then simmer until the chicken is cooked through. I used boneless skinless but you may use bone in chicken and any parts you like, or even a whole chicken just make sure you add more water.
Step 2: When chicken is done pour the cooking liquid through a sieve and set aside. Let chicken cool.
Making the sauce:
Step 3: Melt the butter in a large skillet and cook the onions and mushrooms over medium heat. When onions are translucent, sprinkle the flour over the onions and mix it in until it browns a bit then add 2 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid a little at a time stirring until you have a nice sauce with no lumps, let it come to a boil then let simmer for 5 mins.
Step 4: While the sauce simmers defrost the asparagus in the microwave and slice chicken into bite size pieces. Drain any liquid from the asparagus. Now add the asparagus and chicken to the sauce.
Step 5: Add the sugar and lemon juice to the sauce and stir. Whisk together the egg yolks and cream together and stir in slowly until it thickens. Do not let the sauce boil again, season with salt and pepper and add a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce. Serve over hot rice or egg noodles.
Serves: 4-6
Recipe adapted from Dr. Oetker German Cooking Today

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1 The Café Sucré Farine November 27, 2012 at 12:18 pm

Suzanne, how pleased Michelle from Germany must have been when you served this yummy dinner to her. All the ingredients sound like they would make a delicious dish and I like how you freshened it up! I come from a very German heritage – there is a wonderful recipe on my blog for little Apple Kuchens that I think she would love. My daughter was a foreign exchange student in Germany while she was in high school. She made this apple kuchen for her host family and they thought it was better than any “real” apple kuchen they had ever had. 🙂
http://thecafesucrefarine.blogspot.com/2011/11/apple-cranberry-kuchettes-perfect.html

2 Suzanne November 27, 2012 at 1:09 pm

Thank you Chris I will check that out for sure. That is awesome that your daughter was an exchange student in Germany. I bet learning German was difficult so far I’m terrible at repeating sounds:)

3 Valerie November 27, 2012 at 2:40 pm

This looks absolutely scrumptious!

An exchange student!! How exciting! 😀

4 Patty November 27, 2012 at 3:00 pm

Suzanne, this looks like comfort food to me!! I’m sure Michelle was thrilled to enjoy this dish and what a nice compliment she gave you;-) I look forward to seeing future collaborations in the kitchen with the two of you bringing us some more authentic German specialities;-) Hope you’re enjoying your week xxooxx

5 Laura (Tutti Dolci) November 27, 2012 at 4:44 pm

What a fun day of cooking with your exchange student! Love this dish and especially your addition of fresh veggies!

6 Maureen | Orgasmic Chef November 27, 2012 at 5:00 pm

I want to make this for dinner this week and I’ll make Chris’s apple kuchen for dessert. One meal sorted! Your Americanization suits me perfectly.

7 Lisa {AuthenticSuburbanGourmet} November 27, 2012 at 9:17 pm

I have never made this before but I do love how it rolls off your tongue – kind of fun! 🙂 We had an exchange student live with us when I was in high school from Japan and later my brother went to Japan to be there. It is a great experience! Your dish sounds delish!!! Glad you had a fun trip!

8 Jen Laceda @ Tartine and Apron Strings November 28, 2012 at 1:22 am

Suzanne, a relative of ours hosted a German student also last year. He made us a “Rouladen” (German spelling?) and introduced us to the very interesting German cuisine – lots of sausages, sauerkraut, schnitzels, egg noodles, potatoes…One day, we tried to give the homesick guy a day back in Germany by cooking German food. I wish we had this recipe then! It looks yummy!

9 Rowena @ Apron and Sneakers November 28, 2012 at 9:07 am

This looks so good Suzanne. It will definitely go to my list of recipes to do. Thank you for sharing. It should be nice to have Michelle cooking with you. I can’t wait for more German food in your blog!

10 Tessa November 28, 2012 at 9:22 pm

It’s been years since I have had chicken fricassee. Yours looks delicious!

11 CCU November 28, 2012 at 11:41 pm

Oooh German cuisine for the win my friend I am sure you will have fun 😀
This looks awesome!

Cheers
CCU

12 Nami | Just One Cookbook November 29, 2012 at 12:21 pm

While reading your post, I started to think that I’d love to have a foreign exchange student one day too! This is a very nice way to exchange the culture and food, and Chicken Fricassee looks delicious! I’m sure Michelle was very happy to see this dish. Food always bring us closer. 🙂

13 ashley@bakerbynature November 29, 2012 at 6:17 pm

How have I never made this?! Changing this very soon.

14 Magic of Spice November 29, 2012 at 6:55 pm

A foreign exchange student…how exciting! Your American version of this dish looks so comforting 🙂

15 Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts November 29, 2012 at 8:30 pm

What a great experience to have a foreign exchange student at your house, but then you get to cook and learn from each other. This chicken dish looks great, and I like the changes that you made!

16 Sophie November 30, 2012 at 10:20 am

I think you can call this also: Belgian style! It is how I make this sort of a dish too! It looks freaking delicious!
Yummmm! I would serve this with baked potatoes!

17 Suzanne November 30, 2012 at 9:47 pm

Awe that is cool Sophie, glad you are familiar with the recipe too and good to know it’s Belgium style.

18 Lora @cakeduchess December 2, 2012 at 9:24 pm

Michelle is so lucky to be staying with you and try all your wonderful food!! We had a French exchange student when I was younger. It’s such a great experience. This looks fantastic!!

19 Jessica | Portuguese Girl Cooks December 6, 2012 at 8:45 am

I absolutely love that you used fresh veggies for this instead of canned. I’m sure having an exchange student will be a great experience for all involved!

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