- Serves 4 - Ready in 40 minutes -
Gather together...
350g ‘chantenay’ carrots (i.e. a cheaper version of ‘baby carrots’), topped and tailed, then sliced lengthways in half.
2 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive oil.
2 leeks, sliced into 1cm rings then washed in a colander (washing after slicing means that the soil within the inner layers is removed more easily).
400g cooked-chicken breast chunks, broken into BITE_SIZED PIECES (if you haven't got meat left over from a Sunday roast /Christmas dinner, then cook two large chicken breasts - for approx. 30 minutes at 200 C / 180 C fan / Gas 6, until piping hot throughout - earlier in the week, when you have the oven on anyway). It needs to be white meat (i.e. breast meat) as it is served here in a white sauce, which can look unappetising if the meat is dark.
2 tbsp chopped fresh / frozen Tarragon (put the rest, chopped, in a food bag in the freezer, for the next time you make this recipe).
1 small bottle (187 ml) of dry white wine (e.g. Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio), or you can just add more hot water to the stock.
1 stock cube / 2 tsp low-salt 'Marigold' bouillon stock powder (available in a 1kg bulk tub).
300ml boiling water.
2 tubs of soft cheese (aka own-brand Philadelphia).
Pinch of ground black pepper.
Serve with...
80g brown rice (uncooked weight), per person.
Get cooking...
1. Put the brown rice on to boil (80g per person)– following the packet instructions, or better still make it in a rice cooker.
2. After the rice has been cooking for 10 minutes, microwave the 350g of halved-lengthways chantenay carrots / baby carrots, on HIGH in a lidded container, with ½ cm water, to soften for 10 min.
3. Boil a kettle half-full of water (for the stock).
4. Meanwhile heat the 2 tbsp of oil in a large, lidded pan (or wok-type saucepan) and add the 2 chopped leeks to cook gently for 4 minutes with the lid on.
5. Add the 400g of cooked chicken breast, the 2 tbsp of Tarragon, the 187 ml of white wine (optional - you can just add extra hot water), sieve in the 2 tsp of dry stock powder (sieving avoids unpleasant lumps), then add the 300ml hot water, stir well and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add the halved-lengthways carrots to the pan once they have been softened in the microwave.
7. Remove the lid of the pan, and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
8. Stir in the two tubs of soft cheese and season with a pinch of ground pepper. Once the mixture is bubbling again, remove the pan from the heat.
9. Serve the fricassee on the brown rice.
10. Any leftover 'filling' reheats well in the microwave the next day if 1/4 cup of water is added to keep it moist, I discard any leftover rice due to the risk of food poisoning if it isn't stored / reheated correctly.
The recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver's 'Turkey Fricassee with Tarragon Carrots' after my sister suggested making it one Christmas. Jamie's version was delicious, but the carrots took AGES to cook, much longer than the original recipe suggested, so here the recipe is adapted (and speeded up) by microwaving the carrots first to soften them. As it is in a white fricassee sauce, the 'leftover meat' used in this does need to be breast meat - a turkey tikka curry can hide the brown and gristly meat much better on a subsequent 'leftovers' day.