Traditional German Chicken Fricassee (Hühnerfrikassee)

This is an absolute childhood classic and we're cooking this family favourite today for our family (and sometimes just for us ;). This recipe is exactly how our grandmothers cooked it. When you cook for children though, you may want to exchange the wine for chicken stock though. It's best served with plain white rice.

- yummy family favourite -

Takes about 4 hours | Serves 4

Image of a recipe for traditional German chicken fricassee from Heimat.one

INGREDIENTS

Items you’ll probably have to get

1 vegetable medley for soups (2 carrots, 150g celeriac, 1 leek, 4 sprigs of curly leaf parsley)
1 chicken (about 2kg; preferably organic)
250g carrots
250g mushrooms (white)
150g peas
200g double cream
2½ tablespoons lemon juice

Check if you’ve got enough of these ingredients at home

250 millilitre white wine (dry)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
60g butter
70g flour

Extras you may like

Rice, white

LET’S START COOKING,
SHALL WE?

Clean, rinse and dice the vegetable medley for soups (2 carrots, celeriac, leek and parsley). Rinse the chicken thoroughly inside and out.
Lay the vegetable medley, 150 ml wine, spices, ½ teaspoon salt and the chicken in an extra-large pot and pour in enough cold water (about 2-3 litres) to just cover the meat. Bring to the boil without a lid and simmer on a low heat for about 2 hours.
Remove the chicken from the pot, let it cool and remove the meat from the skin and bones. Cut the chicken into pieces of about 2-3 cm. Pour the stock through a sieve and measure out about 800ml of it. Put the rest of the stock aside and save it in the fridge for another dish - it makes a great homemade stock.
Rinse and peel the carrots and cut into slices to your liking. Clean the mushrooms with a brush and cut them into pieces or slices as you like them.
In a small saucepan, bring the remaining wine to boil and pre-cook the mushrooms in it for about 2 minutes.
In a large pot, carefully melt the butter on medium to low heat, stir in the flour and continue stirring while gradually adding the stock. Stir constantly with a whisk to avoid lumps.
Add the carrot pieces to the sauce and cook on a low heat for about 6 minutes. Add the mushrooms with the wine stock and cook again for about 4 minutes. Then add the chicken and peas and bring to the boil once in the sauce.
Tip: If you prefer your fricassee with white asparagus, now is the time to add it.
Stir the double cream into the sauce and heat everything up again. Season the chicken fricassee with salt, pepper and lemon juice.