So that it won’t just be my grandmother’s Austro-Hungarian cuisine, let’s try French cuisine this time.
Do you know why the French eat snails? – Because they don’t like fast food.
The French, and some others, swear that French cuisine is the best in the world. Maybe yes or maybe not. To the average non-French person, for example, andouillette is something very exotic. Sausage made from the intestines of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. OK, I ate it in some remote place in Provence and it wasn’t bad at all. With a bottle of local white wine, of course.
And the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard about French cuisine. When a chef wants just the bare minimum of garlic, he pops it into his mouth, chews it, and breathes it into the sauce or whatever he’s cooking. What finesse!
And any French chef will tell you that there is no good beef soup without leek.
Today we will prepare something simpler.
Fricassee or fricassée is a stew made with pieces of meat that have been browned in butter then served in a sauce flavored with the cooking stock. Fricassee is usually made with chicken, veal or rabbit, with variations limited only by what ingredients the cook has on hand.
First, I cook the chicken a little. I cut it up and fry it in butter until it turns slightly brown. Then I put the meat on a plate and set it aside.
I put a little more butter in the same pan. When it warms up, I put in roughly chopped vegetables, mushrooms, celery, kohlrabi, carrots, broccoli, onion, leek, crushed clove of garlic. When the vegetables are fried, I add a glass of white wine. When the wine evaporates, I add broth, salt, a few grains of pepper and a bay leaf. When the vegetables are cooked, I return the meat to the pan. I reheat, add heavy cream, finely chopped parsley, and that’s it.
Some people add flour to get a thicker sauce. Personally, I hate flour for these purposes, I prefer a slightly thinner sauce.
I serve it with boiled rice and a light spring salad.
And as the French say – bon appétit.
And last but not least, let your imagination run free.