Chicken Fricassee With Tarragon

Cold weather always makes me crave comfort food. I tend to really want pasta (and would be perfectly happy eating it every day that drops below 40 degrees) but am always open to healthier comfort food options. BetterEats.com had a lighter recipe for Chicken Fricassee, which is a French stew with chicken, vegetables, white wine, and cream that when paired with some day old bread makes a fantastic comfort food option.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks) – bone-in, skin removed (I used 1 chicken breast, 1 thigh, 1 leg, and 1 drumstick)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pepper, black – to taste
• 2 tablespoons flour, all-purpose
• 1 tablespoon oil, olive, extra virgin
• 1 cup shallots (about 4 large ones)
• 1 cup wine, dry white
• 1 1/2 cups broth, chicken, less sodium
• 1 medium carrot – peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 pound mushrooms, I used 1/2 lb baby bellas, 1/2 lb button – wiped clean and halved or quartered
• 4 sprigs tarragon, fresh
• 4 teaspoons tarragon, fresh – chopped
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup sour cream, reduced-fat
• 2 teaspoons mustard, Dijon

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Dredge in flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add chicken; cook until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add shallots to the pan; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add wine and scrape up any browned bits. Simmer until reduced slightly, about 3 minutes.

Add broth; bring to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan; add carrot, mushrooms and tarragon sprigs.

Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently until the chicken is tender and no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Discard tarragon sprigs. Increase heat to medium-high. Simmer the cooking liquid for 2 to 3 minutes to intensify flavor.

Add cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in sour cream, mustard and chopped tarragon. Serve immediately.

Oh yum. This was so good and so easy! The broth had so much flavor, I especially loved how tender the mushrooms turned out.

You definitely need some bread to sop up all the goodness!

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