Mushroom & Artichoke Chicken Fricassee

This chicken fricassee is a “Helloooo, spring,” kind of dish. It’s made with artichokes—a quintessential mark of the growing season to me. 

Fricassee is a rich dish, where meat is braised with white wine and usually cream. In this version, chicken tenderloins are seared first, giving them flavor and shortening overall cooking time. 

This time of year we’re stuck in limbo between soup season and grilling season, when you crave fresh flavors but warm dishes at the same time. Fricassee is definitely warming -- that sauce is no joke. But the addition of artichokes, mushrooms and a generous sprinkle of parsley on top keeps it feeling lighter than if you were to use winter veggies (potatoes or other root veggies… though that would be delicious too).  Wonderful on a rainy day in March!

Because of its creamy sauce, fricassee is really good served over something like rice or mashed cauliflower... anything to soak up the creaminess! 

The whole thing is cooked on the stove and will be ready in 30 minutes. If you plan on making rice or mash cauliflower to go with it, get it going just as you’re starting to make the Fricassee so that it’s all ready at once and you don’t have to spend any more time in the kitchen than necessary!

Happy Spring! 

Mushroom & Artichoke Chicken Fricassee

Published March 27, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil or other cooking oil
• 1 pound chicken tenderloins, or thin-cut chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, quarters and drained
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• Salt
• Blck pepper
• 1/4 cup minced parsley

Directions:

1. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece through the flour, tapping off excess.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in the bottom of a skillet over medium heat (I used my 5-qt Le Creuset Braiser.) When the oil glistens, place the chicken in the pan. Cook on the first side for 5 minutes, until the bottom of each piece turns golden. Then flip, and cook 5 minutes on the opposite side. Use tongs or a spatula to move chicken to a plate and set aside.
3. Add second tablespoon of coconut oil to the pan. Once hot, add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Then add minced garlic, and cook for a minute, until fragrant.
4. Pour the broth and mustard into the pan, stirring the mustard into the broth. Bring the liquid to a simmer, and using a wooden spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan a few times to deglaze the pan. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, reducing the liquid a bit.
5. Add the chicken back into the pan, along with the artichokes. Pour in the cream, stirring into the sauce, and remove from heat.
6. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.

One Pan Paleo Chicken Cacciatore

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Camera Update: I got my new camera in mail yesterday! I’m over the moon. I’ll be returning to the regular posting scheduling shortly, now what I can shoot! 

Now... on to this delicious dish! 

I’ve been on a re-working streak: revisiting old favorites from the blog and taking new pictures (like this Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry, or this Lemony Garden Vegetable & Chicken Soup). It takes some of the mind-work out of the equation, leaving me to only do the creative pieces: photography, a bit of writing, quite a lot of eating. 

This one-pan chicken cacciatore is one of those revisited recipes. I originally made this recipe when I was in the middle of finals for grad school. It feels like a lifetime ago. At the time, exams, essays, and textbooks took up such a large part of my life it was hard to believe it could be any other way. In retrospect that was a short lived moment in my journey, one that I even forget about most of the time. All the better, as my experience with grad school was unremarkable. 

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When I first published this recipe I had said, "I need meals that are simple, quick, and take a minimal amount of brain work.” But I was also looking for ways to express myself creatively, something multiple choice tests didn’t allow. It's that creative need that comes through in this recipe, inspired by a single night out at Pasta Jay’s on Pearl Street. 

I remember—not the exact dish I had eaten at Pasta Jay’s- but the thoughts that ran through my head when I ate the leftovers out of a cardboard to-go box the next day. The dish awed me, to be honest. I had never had anything but pasta-laden dishes from Italian restaurants before (to be expected), but this dish had no pasta, and was the best thing I’d eaten that month. 

I ate that meal in 2011 and originally wrote up this recipe in 2015. It’s now been 7 years, and that first introduction to cacciatore stays with me.

Making cacciatore is a bit of a production: if you really want to impress people, you’ll need to get fresh basil, and there are a few things you’ll need to chop. Oh, but it’s worth it. Since I’m usually making this on a weeknight, after running errands or getting a workout in, I try to chop everything ahead of time (in the morning, or the night before). I’ll even measure out the spices and put them in a bowl, so that when evening rolls around I don’t even have to think. Just put things in the pot (I use a blue Le Creuset Braiser for meals like this (affiliate link!)) and remember to stir occasionally! 

One Pan Paleo Chicken Cacciatore

Published February 27, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 60 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound bone-in chicken thighs (boneless and skinless is fine too, just reduce cooking time - cook thighs until internal temperature reaches 185°F)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1/2 medium white onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bell peppers, sliced in strips (choose a variety of colors: yellow, red, or green)
• 1/4 cup red wine, such a Pinot Noir or Sirah
• 2 14.5-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, drained and quartered 
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced chiffonade style style, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Optional for serving: grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese, red pepper flakes, extra basil leaves

Directions:

1. Heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet (I use my 5-qt Le Creuset Braiser (affiliate link!), though a 13 to 15 inch skillet would work as well). Once the oil glistens, place chicken thighs skin-side down in the pan. Sear the chicken for 3 minutes, then flip them over and continue to cook chicken for 5 more minutes.
2. After 5 minutes, place the onions, garlic, and peppers in pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Add the wine, and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer.
3. Pour in the tomatoes, and stir in the artichoke hearts, balsamic vinegar, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper.
4. Bring back up to simmer, and place lid on pan. Cook, for 20-30 more minutes, until an instant read thermometer reads 185°F when inserted into the center of the thickest thigh.
5. Remove from heat, and serve on plates or in bowls. Garnish with grated parmesan, red pepper flakes, and/or extra basil.
6. Tip: try serving this over spiralized zucchini or spaghetti squash for a grain-free pasta option.

Easy Sweet Potato & Chicken Curry

The bad news first: I was in the middle of photographing some oatmeal banana chocolate chip cookies when my camera took a field trip… off the kitchen counter, to the floor. It took the hit hard. So, without a way to take pictures for a little while, I’ll be posting less for the next few weeks. I have a enough recipes in my backlog that I’ll be posting one recipe a week for the next few weeks instead of my usual two. My new camera is on backorder, so I’m crossing my fingers it gets here ASAP! 

The good news: I have curry to drown my sorrows in. 😉

Do you have a food you can’t live without? Maybe peanut butter? Or chocolate? Those are really good choices, and I would put them on my must-have list for sure (especially chocolate). An oddball item on my list is curry.

This sweet potato & chicken curry is one actually an oldie from the blog – something I originally published over two years ago! It needed a bit of a face lift, and I was more than happy to accommodate... This sweet and savory curry is welcome in my house anytime, but especially when we have a foot of snow outside (which we do right now!). It offers a ying and yang of spicy and creamy; of hot and cool; of sweet and savory. Few other dishes are quite so satisfying. 

Easy Sweet Potato & Chicken Curry

Published February 20, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 1 serrano chile, minced
• 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon ground curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (whole)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Optional: dash of cayenne pepper, for extra heat
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced (or 1 large)
• 2 14-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes (diced works too, will just be a chunkier curry)
• 1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
• For serving: minced cilantro, roasted cashews, and your choice of rice/cauliflower rice/quinoa/etc

Directions:

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil glisten, add diced onion, minced garlic, and minced ginger. Sauté until onions are transparent.
2. Add the cubed chicken to the pan, browning on each side for about 3 minutes, and then turning to cook the other side. Add the minced serrano chile, spices, and salt, and stir.
3. Add the diced sweet potato, along with the canned tomatoes, and coconut milk. Stir to incorporate everything.
4. Bring to a simmer and place lid on pan, cooking until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Prick potatoes with a fork to ensure they are soft all the way through.
5. Serve curry hot, sprinkled with cilantro and toasted cashews, along with a side of rice/cauliflower rice/quinoa/etc.