Thursday, August 13, 2009

A Quick Post Note for Chicken Fricassee

First let me say how thrilling it is to be able to spell "fricassee." Of course don't ask me how to spell it tomorrow because I'll probably have forgotten.

Second, I want to tell you that I re-heated the left over Chicken Fricassee for dinner tonight and (if I do say so myself) - it was MAGNIFIQUE!!!!! That old saw about things tasting better the next day (or the next or the next...) is SO TRUE!

Now. I'd hinted I would make a few changes to the recipe, first among them that I would use skinned but still on the bone chicken next time because of the "ookey" quality of the cooked-in-liquid-chicken-skin. Changed my mind on that. Why not cook it with the skin on (all that chicken fat flavor, don't ya know) - BUT then remove it before serving??

Third, never, never, never, never and I mean NEVER cook a saucy dish like Chicken Fricassee and serve immediately. What happens when those flavors mingle a couple of days? Ohhhh, Mama! It was SO much better reheated. Ms. Julia suggests reheating the dish slowly by simmering it gently in a covered pan, basting the chicken pieces with the sauce occasionally, for a total reheating time of 6-8 minutes. And you know what? The old girl sure knew her way around a chicken. Because that was it! That's all the time it took. Really.

So if you choose to go this route as I certainly will, something you'll need to know is that La Julia recommends letting the whole dish come to room temperature (after cooking) before refrigerating. Saves all that condensation from smothering the lovely sauce. So - seal it up in the fridge and be happy in the knowledge that a couple of days from now you are going to have THE BEST kind of dinner! Toodle for now :)



2 comments:

  1. Regarding: "Julia recommends letting the whole dish come to room temperature (after cooking) before refrigerating." I heard on the show The Doctors this week that that is just a myth. I did a quick search online and it looks like most sites (including food network) say you do not need to cool before refrigerating, and probably shouldn't to avoid food poisoning. Anyway, just letting you know. :)

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  2. Wow - I hadn't heard that before - never too old to learn something new, huh? I do wonder about the condensation thing, though...when you cover something hot and put it into the fridge, the moisture that collects on the lid eventually rains down on the food, but apparently that isn't a problem - ? Thanks for the heads up on that one, Lys :)

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