Fricasee de Poulet

Another night, another package of chicken parts. What to do? Well, Pierre Franey usually offers me some good suggestions, so off to his cookbook I went. Fricasse of chicken? That sounds like fun. "Swing your partner and fricasse"? Or, "Let's go outside and play Frisbee and Fricasse!" Drag the final syllable out - "Fricasseeeee!" It sounds like it should be fun. Or, maybe I've spent too many years hanging around with little kids.

Anyway, after Paula posted yesterday about me cooking many things in the broiler, I knew I had to adapt Pierre Franey's recipe to suit my own peculiar way of doing things. So, without further ado, I bring you,

FRICASSEE DE POULET A L'ESTRAGON
(Fricasse of Chicken with Tarragon)

3 to 4 pounds chicken pieces (I used boneless, skinless thighs)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water whisked with 2 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream

Melt the butter in the bottom only of the broiler pan. Cut the chicken into smaller pieces, if desired; I find that pieces about 1-1/2" square by 3" long work very well. Arrange the chicken in the pan, and salt and pepper the pieces. Broil for 8 minutes, remove from the broiler, turn the pieces, and broil another 8 minutes. Remove the pieces from the pan to a bowl to stay warm, put the broiler pan on a burner, and add the onion and garlic; saute them for a minute until softened (Pierre also calls for mushrooms at this point, but I just didn't feel like playing with fungus last night). Whisk in the cornstarch mix and chicken broth, and heat until the sauce thickens. Whisk in the cream and tarragon, and return the chicken to the pan. Broil for another 2 to 4 minutes, until the sauce bubbles. Serve over a bed of rice.
This was my dinner last night, with the rice, whole green beans and acorn squash. I'd expect to see this hit my table again soon if I were my family!