Vegetable-Lover’s Chicken Fricassee

Name: Vegetable-Lover’s Chicken Fricassee
Yield: Makes 6 First-Course or 4 Main-Course Servings
Ingredients: 12 thick spears green or white asparagus; One 10-ounce package cultivated mushrooms, preferably cremini; ½ cup heavy cream; Leaves from 2 sprigs tarragon; ½ cup fresh baby peas or frozen petite peas; ⅔ pound fava beans in the shell, shucked (optional); ½ lemon if using artichokes; 1 ounce dried morel mushrooms (optional); 2 large artichokes (optional); ⅓ pound green beans, preferably haricots verts, ends trimmed; 2 cups spinach leaves; Salt; 18 or 24 pearl onions or walnut-sized boiling onions (optional); One 4-pound chicken, or 2 thighs and 2 breasts, or 4 thighs or breasts; Pepper; 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil; 1 small bunch parsley, large stems removed; 1 small bunch chives; 3 cups chicken broth or water if using onions, or 3¼ cups if not; 1 small bunch chervil (optional)

Preparation info

Makes
6
First-Course

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cooking

By James Peterson

Published 2007

About

This dish may seem complicated, but it really involves only fixing an assortment of vegetables and then serving them over the chicken. You can cut out some of the vegetables, if you like, or you can trade some of them out for whatever looks good at the market.

Ingredients

12 thick spears green or white asparagus
One 10-ounce package cultivated mushrooms, preferably cremini

Main course
Starter
Gluten-free

Method

Early on the day you will be serving the fricassee, trim and peel the asparagus spears as shown. Cut each spear into 3 sections about 3 inches long.

Wash and dry the mushrooms. Cut the end off the bottom of each mushroom stem if dried out or dirty. Shuck