Slow Cooker Chicken Fricassee ala The Outlander Kitchen

One of my favorite gifts that I got for this birthday was Outlander Kitchen by Theresa Carle-Sanders with a foreward by Diana Gabaldon, the author of the Outlander series.

Have you read any of the Outlander books?  I LOVE them.  I have read them all and am anxiously awaiting the next book.  I also love watching the series on Starz.  They stay pretty true to the books and I am, impatiently, awaiting Season 3.

This cookbook is so much fun and the recipes sound amazing.  Each recipe starts with an excerpt from the book in which the food was mentioned.  It is so much fun, reading through and remembering the context of all the readings.  I can't wait to try more of the recipes.

Today, I am sharing a recipe inspired by the book "A Breath of Snow and Ashes".   This dish was made and served by Murdina Bug while she was being berated by her employer, Bree, for giving Bree's son a treat before dinner.  Bree, has red hair like her father and it shows up often in the flare of her temper.  Her husband, a much calmer sort, bodily picks Bree up and carries her out of the house apologizing to Mrs. Bug as he goes.  Bree's parents dig into the meal as her mother reproaches her father with a "she gets that from you, you know".

I'm sure Mrs. Bug would have loved a slow cooker. Heck she would have loved a stove top and oven instead of a fire.

 Ms. Carle-Sanders talks of how Murdina Bug would have loved having the convenience of a slow cooker for this dish.  I know that I certainly did.  I put this on before leaving the house to work the food pantry and when we walked back in the aroma started us salivating as we impatiently spent the five minutes it took to finish the dish for dinner.

I added the potatoes and onions to the hot skillet to color them a bit. I deglazed the pan with some lemon juice.

I did adapt the recipe slightly.  I used legs and thighs from a whole chicken that I had cut up.  I reduced the recipe to only feed 2 so my ingredients can easily be doubled or tripled to suit your needs. Just don't double or triple the liquid used in the slow cooker.  

There it goes into the crockpot as we run out the door.

I subsitituted dried thyme for the fresh and used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth because that was what I had on hand.  I deleted the white wine and after removing the chicken from the skillet, I added the potatoes and onions to color them a bit, using the lemon juice to deglaze the pan.  All of this then went into the pot along with the chicken.

I didn't add mushrooms because I didn't have any. I skipped the part that has you brown the chicken under the broiler because we don't eat the skin anyway and it was just the two of us.  I mixed the cream and eggs together with a little of the sauce to temper it and then just added it to the rest of the sauce in the bottom of the crockpot.  I didn't bother reducing it because there wasn't much stock left in the slow cooker.  I guess, like I often do, I just made this recipe my own.  That is not to take away from the Cookbook at all as the author encourages you to just use the recipes as a guide making substitutions as necessary.  Now that, my friends, is my kind of cookbook. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Fricasee for Two

adapted from the Oulander Kitchen Cookbook

4 pieces dark meat chicken

1/4 c. flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 T. olive oil

1/2 of a large sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 large russet potato, halved and then quartered

1 t. lemon juice

10-12 baby carrots

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 t. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 c. vegetable or chicken stock

1/4 c. cream

1 lg. egg yolk

Place the flour, salt and pepper into a sealable plastic bag.  Add the chicken and shake to coat.  

Heat the oil in a large skillet over med high heat.  Add the chicken and brown on all sides.  Transfer chicken to a slow cooker.

In the same skillet, add the potato, onions and lemon juice.  Cook, stirring occasionally until onions soften and the potatoes brown a bit, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add this mixture to the slow cooker along with the carrots, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.  Pour the stock over all. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hrs.  

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and, if desired, place it under the broiler for 5-6 minutes to crisp.  Remove the vegetables to a serving platter along with the chicken, reserving the cooking liquid in the crock.  Whisk together the egg yolk and cream in a small bowl.  Whisk in a tablespoon or two of the reserved cooking liquid to temper the egg and then whisk the entire cream mixture into the remaining cooking liquid until thickened and smooth.  Pour over chicken and vegetables and serve. Print Recipe

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