Chicken Fricassee With Vermouth

By bjlazyl

Ingredients

• 1 three-and-one-half-pound, ready-to-cook chicken, cut into serving pieces
• Salt, if desired
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup dry white vermouth
• 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 cup carrots cut into fine, julienne strips, about two inches long
• 1 1/2 cups loosely packed leeks cut into fine, julienne strips, about three inches long
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from cooking.nytimes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the butter in a skillet and add the chicken pieces skin side down. Cook over moderate heat about one minute without browning.

Scatter the onion over all and cook 30 seconds. Add the garlic and stir it around. Cook the chicken about four minutes, turning the pieces often in the butter.

Sprinkle the flour over all, turning the pieces so that they are evenly coated. Add the vermouth, chicken broth, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and cook over moderate heat about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring two batches of water to the boil for the carrots and leeks. Drop the carrots into one batch, the leeks in the other. Let the carrots simmer about one minute and drain. Let the leeks simmer about four minutes.

When the chicken has cooked for a total of 30 minutes (start to finish), add the carrots, leeks and cream. Let simmer about two minutes. Serve with rice.