Chicken Fricassee with Mushrooms and Peas

Ingredients

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• 600 g (1.3 lb) boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 l (4 1/4 cup) water
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 40 g (1.4 oz) butter
• 250 g (8.8 oz) white mushrooms sliced
• 40 g (1.4 oz) all-purpose flour
• 500 ml (2 cup) cooking broth from poaching the chicken
• 100 ml (3.4 fl oz) heavy cream
• 150 g (5.3 oz) frozen peas
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste
• 300 g (1 1/2 cup) long-grain rice for serving

Method

1. Bring the water to a boil with the carrot, onion, bay leaf and salt. Add the chicken and let it poach over low heat for 20 minutes, without letting the water boil rapidly.
2. Lift out the chicken. Strain the broth and measure out 500 ml. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces.
3. Cook the rice according to the package directions. For the sauce, heat half of the butter and brown the mushrooms in it for 5 minutes, then remove them.
4. Melt the remaining butter in the pot, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes until pale. Gradually pour in the broth while stirring and simmer for 8 minutes, until the sauce is smooth.
5. Add the cream, mushrooms, peas and chicken and let everything steep over low heat for 5 minutes. Season with lemon juice, salt, pepper and nutmeg and serve with the rice.

Tip: The cooking broth is the base of the sauce. Cooking bone-in chicken thighs instead gives a more robust broth.

Tip: Asparagus (green or white) turns the fricassee into a spring version. Add the asparagus pieces to the sauce after the mushrooms and cook them for 8 minutes.

Food safety: Always cook poultry all the way through: the core temperature at the coldest point must reach at least 158 °F (70 °C) and be held there for at least 2 minutes; use a kitchen thermometer.

Food safety: Cool cooked rice quickly (within about an hour), keep it in the refrigerator, do not keep it warm for long and use it by the next day at the latest; reheat it until piping hot all the way through.