Both of these recipes were from the Professional Chef. I had some chicken and I wanted something different. I came real close to making my Chicken Parmesan, which is wicked awesome by the way, but I decided to try something new. Don't worry. You'll get the chicken parm recipe eventually.
To be honest, the chicken was alright. Nothing great. The sauce was pretty good and I was very happy with the risotto. It was my first time making risotto and I thought it went pretty well. It was exceptionally good with the sauce from the chicken.
If you don't know what risotto is, it is rice made with a very specific technique. It ends up with a very creamy, porridge like consistency without being at all mushy or clumpy. It is really very good and if you ever watch cooking show competitions freakin everybody makes them.
The chicken is braised in a white wine and cream sauce with chicken stock. I think if I would have followed the recipe better and used dark meat it would have turned out better. I had chicken breasts and when you braise with breasts they tend to dry out, get tough, and lose flavor. I also didn't measure crap and since the PC makes everything in a billion portions my ratios could have been off. I will give you the recipe per PC and you can scale down as you see fit.
Chicken Fricassee
You need:
5 chickens, cut into 8 pieces each
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
4 oz clarified butter or oil
1 lb diced onions
2 tsp minced garlic
2 oz AP flour
8 oz white wine
16 oz chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp thyme
8 oz heavy cream
1 lb small-dice carrots, blanched
1 lb small-dice leeks, blanched
1/2 oz chives or parsley, chopped
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large pot and saute chicken til they stiffen slightly, but do not brown. Transfer chicken to a pan and reserve.
Add onions and garlic to the pan and cook til onions are translucent.
Add the flour and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the wine to the pan, stirring to release any drippings. Let the wine cook for at least a minute to burn off some of the alcohol. Add the stock, bay leaves, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Return the chicken along with any juice to the pan. Cover and cook over low to medium heat til chicken is fork tender, ~30 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a pan and moisten with some of the cooking liquid. Keep warm while finishing the sauce.
Add the cream to the sauce and simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly. Skim to degrease and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Strain the sauce and return to the pot.
Return the chicken to the sauce along with the leeks and carrots and simmer for another 2 minutes. Serve with chives/parsley.
Risotto alla Milanese
I'll give you the PC recipe as is but then discuss what I did. Once again, you can scale down as you see fit.
46 oz chicken stock
3/4 tsp saffron (do you really need this? no.)
salt
pepper
3 oz minced onions
7 oz olive oil
14oz medium grained white rice (Arborio rice to be strictly italian, but I don't know where you'd get this)
2 oz dry white wine
5 oz butter
6 oz grated parmesan
Let's talk technique.
Risotto takes pretty much constant attention and stirring. This is not a bring to the boil, cover, and walk away type of rice dish. It is typically made with a medium grain rice. Longer grain will take longer to cook and probably more liquid. I'm not sure, but a short grain rice might be a little mushy if you try to use it for a risotto. A medium grain rice should take about 20 minutes to cook. The liquid in risotto is added a bit at a time, about 1/4 to 1/3 at a time and stirred constantly until all the liquid absorbs. Since you are not covering, the rice:liquid ratio should be somewhere around 1:3. Keep adding and stirring until the liquid is absorbed and the rice develops a creamy consistency.
So first off, heat up your stock over low heat and add the saffron to it. Sweat the onions (I actually used leeks since I had some left over) in the oil til soft and translucent. Add the rice and stir constantly til you get a toasted aroma, a minute or two. Add the wine and cook til dry. Add 1/3 of the stock and cook, stirring constantly til the liquid is absorbed. Repeat, adding the remaining stock in 2 more portions, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Stir constantly and once you've gotten to the end you can actually start tossing the risotto in the pot to help incorporate air into it and make it creamier and fluffier. At this point, the rice should be just tender, most of the liquid absorbed, and very creamy.
Finish it by stirring in the butter, parmesan, and a little oil. Adjust seasoning and add any fresh herbs if you want. Serve.
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