Chicken Fricassée

Winter is coming. The fall crisp in the air is beginning to dig deeper. Scarves serve a purpose rather than merely to add color to daily wear. I find myself lighting candles and sipping on cider to ease into the cold -- reminders that I'm not in Tucson anymore.

This Chicken Fricassée recipe caught my eye last month in Martha Stewart Living. It's all of the familiarity of chicken noodle soup, just a little fancier (and French-er) and without with starch. The mirepoix and herbs given this dish wonderful flavor, while the mushrooms, wine, and chicken add the earth and girth to the meal.

With only about an hour of combined prep and cook time, Chicken Fricassée can easily be a weeknight meal. I'll be eating it for the rest of the week to be sure.

Chicken Fricassée

adapted from Martha Stewart

yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 lbs of chicken pieces

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced (1 cup)

3 carrots, diced (1 cup)

4 celery stalk, diced (1 cup)

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2/3 cup dry white wine

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

6 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 to 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh tarragon leaves

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Season chicken on both sides with 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Preheat a Dutch oven or other large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add butter and the oil to pot. When butter melts and foam subsides, add half the chicken, skin side down, in a single layer; do not crowd pot. (If butter begins to blacken, lower heat.) Fry chicken, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes total, and transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Reduce heat to medium, and add mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) to pot, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Saute mirepoix, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown in places, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms darken, become glossy, and begin to release liquid, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in flour, and cook until flour is absorbed by vegetables and is no longer visible, about 1 minute.

Add wine to pot, and bring to a boil, stirring until liquid just thickens, about 45 seconds. Add broth, and stir.

Place chicken, skin side up, in a single layer on vegetables; pour juices that have accumulated on plate into pot. Add the thyme and bay leaf to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially. Cook until internal temperature of thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees, about 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a clean plate. Simmer liquid, uncovered, until reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Discard herbs.

To make the liaison (sauce thickener), whisk together egg yolks and cream in a medium bowl. Whisking constantly, pour 1/2 cup cooking liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, into liaison to temper it. Stir tempered liaison into pot.

Return chicken to pot. Add tarragon and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer, stir gently to combine, and serve. Enjoy.

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Carrot Cake and a Red Balloon

Last week, my good friend Cecilia asked me to paint a mural on her staircase wall. Ever since, I've had five legitimate paid offers to paint people's rooms/nurseries/furniture. I'm FUNemployed as of 10 days ago, so this is sweet, sweet music to my ears. If you hear of a job that involves solar physics, baking, astronomy outreach, mural art, and/or Excel spreadsheets, please do pass it along - I'm your girl. Back to Cecilia's wall...

Project 99 (minus 98) Red

Balloons was launched. The mural is based on the famous Banksy graffiti art of girl with balloon. I gave her long air to look like Cecilia and the cutest little red rain boots.

All the while, I couldn't help but want to rock out to the 80s classic 99 Luftballons (this will now be stuck in your head for the next three days. I'm sorry that I'm not sorry about it).

99 Luftballons

Nena

Hast du etwas Zeit für mich

Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich

Von 99 Luftballons

Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont

Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an 

mich

Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich

Von 99 Luftballons

Und dass so was von so was kommt...

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

We of course then had to take pictures of ourselves with the girl and help her get her balloon back. It was a great afternoon...

Carrots with leafy tops make me almost as giddy as Cecilia was when I completed her project. There's something happy, wholesome, and genuine about carrots that don't come in plastic bag. These were on sale at the market, so I had the perfect excuse to make a carrot cake.

          

This carrot cake is moist, dense, and flavorful. And, you know, it's "healthy" because it has a vegetable in it... Never you mind that the recipe is from Paula Deen, the butter queen... 

I've used this recipe to make cupcakes in the past (these carrot cake basket cupcakes) and will continue to use it in the future. I simply shred the carrots in a food processor instead of using a cheese grater and I add pecans to the frosting instead of the cake, but you could easily add pecans, walnuts, raisins... to the batter. Make it your own. This is the kind of cake that quickly becomes a classic staple in your recipe box. Enjoy.

Carrot Cake
Paula Deen

yields two 8-inch round cakes (I made one very tall 8-inch round cake)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups grated carrots

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour round pans. Line bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, blend until combined. Add carrots.

Pour into pans. Bake for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, place on waxed paper and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Add all ingredients, except nuts, into a medium bowl and beat until fluffy using a hand mixer. Stir in the nuts. Spread frosting on top.

Enjoy.
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Carrot Cake Basket Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

We're so removed from our food as a society that I actually find it to be a novelty when they sell carrots with leafy tops in the grocery store (Don't carrots grow in the ground in groups of twelve in plastic bags!?).  Call me crazy, but they just look happier. Happy little carrots...

You know what would make you happier? A cupcake.

These cute carrot cake basket cupcakes can't help but make you smile. They are moist and comforting, with a hint of fall spice, and you can never go wrong with cream cheese frosting.

So go buy some happy carrots and get happy in your kitchen.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

yields two dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil
3 cups shredded carrots

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in a large bowl. Beat in eggs and oil until incorporated.

Stir in shredded carrots with a spatula. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Fill with batter 2/3 full.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for an hour.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
16 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1 pound confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Beat ingredients for one minute. Spread a thin layer of frosting onto cupcakes. Pipe basket as shown below using Ateco tip #47.

Royal Icing Carrots

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon meringue powder
2 tablespoons water

Directions:
Beat ingredients for three minutes. Separate batch in half. Use food coloring gel to color green and orange.

Line a baking tray with waxed paper. Pipe carrots onto waxed paper. Let dry (this process can be expediated by placing in the freezer for one hour). Place on top of cupcakes.

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