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chicken
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special chicken stew
© David Loftus

special chicken stew

servings
4
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This recipe is based on the classic French fricassee of chicken that I spent so many years as a student preparing. I've been lucky enough to see authentic ones cooked in France, and the Italian version of the same. A fricassee means floured meat fried and turned into a stew, using the flour as a thickening agent. In this recipe I've bastardized an old original, using individual spring chickens, but you can use a jointed whole chicken.

Preheat the oven to 180ΊC/350ΊF/gas 4. Season your baby chickens inside and out and stuff each of them with the parsley and tarragon stalks. Using your forefinger, carefully part the skin from the breast meat and smear a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard into each bird. Rub the flour all over the chickens so they are covered in a thin layer. Keep any flour that falls off.

In a snug-fitting casserole-type pan, fry your chickens in 3 good lugs of olive oil on all sides for 10 minutes until golden. Remove them to a plate and then fry off the onion, garlic and celery in the pan. Add the butter and spare flour and continue to fry for about 4 minutes, scraping off any goodness that is on the bottom of the pan. Add your 2 glasses of white wine and allow the liquid to reduce by half, then put the chickens back into the pan. Now pour in your stock – it should come to about half-way up the chickens. Make yourself a cartouche. Wet it so it's flexible then tuck this in and around the pan.

Place in the oven and cook for around 50 minutes to an hour until the chickens have crisp skin and the thigh meat falls off the bone. Remove the chicken to some nice serving bowls – ones that can hold a bit of sauce – and place your pan back on the hob. Add the lettuces, grapes, parsley leaves and tarragon leaves and simmer for a couple more minutes. Correct the seasoning carefully and spoon this sauce next to the chicken.


• from Jamie's Kitchen


ingredients


• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 spring chickens or poussins
• 1 small handful of fresh parsley, leaves picked, stalks kept
• 1 bunch of fresh tarragon, leaves picked, stalks kept
• 4 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
• 2 heaped tablespoons plain white flour
extra virgin olive oil
• 1 white onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
½ celery heart, trimmed back and finely sliced
• 2 good knobs of butter
• 2 wineglasses of crisp white wine
• 565ml stock
• 3 gem lettuces, quartered
• 1 small bunch of seedless grapes, washed and halved

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...
1. by Tom on Tue 08 May 2012 @ 00:26

Heidi,<br /> <br /> I use a combo of arrowroot, tapioca and white (or brown) rice flour. Use equal parts of all three and a dash of potato flour. That should do nicely as a substitute.

2. by carla on Mon 30 Apr 2012 @ 17:30

broth<br /> "stock"<br /> soup<br /> bouillon<br /> consommι<br /> in spanish: CALDO

3. by Chris H on Mon 30 Apr 2012 @ 11:12

Lettuce? I have never heard of it being used in this way before. I have never had it cooked, only raw in a salad. Although I was tempted for the quick grilled with balsamic vinegar spritz I saw somewhere. Looked mighty tasty. Stew sounds fantastic, will have to try it. The oven is the hot thing right? Wonder if it would work in a microwave....

4. by Heidi on Mon 30 Apr 2012 @ 10:07

What combination of Gluten Free flours could I use to substitute for the white flour?

5. by kathy on Sat 03 Mar 2012 @ 03:44

what is stock???????

6. by Rashad on Sat 26 Nov 2011 @ 15:09

Bless you , JO. Can you please now tell Australia that 4 rashers of bacon are not an essential addition to every casserole? Some cook at the dawn of Australian cuisine (about 50 years ago, I guess) set a rule in concrete: You shall add 4 rashers of bacon to every casserole dish you ever create, so they all taste the same - and even worse, so they all smell the same - (vaguely of puppy dog, actually). <br /> <br /> <br />

7. by suechu on Fri 25 Nov 2011 @ 11:27

I'm using chicken joints for this rather than poussins - how do I incorporate the herbs please? Many thanks.

8. by suechu on Fri 25 Nov 2011 @ 11:23

Hi all, making this dish using chicken joints. In which case how do I incorporate the herbs into the recipe as I'm not stuffing them into poussins? Many thanks.

9. by Ellen on Mon 14 Nov 2011 @ 13:19

I have made this twice and it was absolutely wonderful. The tarragon gives it a great fragrance and taste. Highly recommended.<br />

10. by Despina33 on Fri 03 Jul 2009 @ 22:13

Here is the instructions for the CARTOUCHE

http://www.jamieoliver.com/bloggers/viewtopic.php?id=48123

11. by RB on Fri 23 Jan 2009 @ 01:12

How much is a "lug" of oil?

12. by graham on Sun 11 Jan 2009 @ 21:06

looks tasty

13. by Graham on Sat 10 Jan 2009 @ 21:32

Seems ok. Will try.

14. by lisa on Sat 10 Jan 2009 @ 15:08

This recipe is gorgeous and works really well in the slow cooker. it smells great when you get home form work.

15. by mark on Fri 09 Jan 2009 @ 18:23

hi i am a chef in North yorkshire, i did that chicken stew for a dinner party a few years back and all was fine but they didnt go to much on the grapes lol. but its all in the game you will never please everyone in this game lol

16. by JD on Thu 08 Jan 2009 @ 14:37

To answer the above questions:

In cooking, a "cartouche" is a round of grease-proof paper that covers the surface of a stew to reduce evaporation or to keep components submerged.

17. by megan on Thu 08 Jan 2009 @ 09:04

a cartouche is a piece of baking paper (usually) that is cut in the shape of the pan and fitted to keep the dish from browning too much and to create steam. also a cartouche is used after the cooking process to cover sauces etc to stop a skin forming

18. by Sarah on Thu 08 Jan 2009 @ 03:33

He means a piece of parchment, cut to fit your pan, that just covers the food you're cooking. It keeps the food from drying out. Hope that's helpful!

19. by kim on Wed 07 Jan 2009 @ 15:29

A catouche is a circle of greaseproofpaper or a butterrapper that you put on top of any dish to keep the moisture in while cooking

20. by kym on Mon 05 Jan 2009 @ 16:58

what is a cartouche

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