This morning I tweeted a line I’d read in the Sunday Times about the Sunday roast being on its way out but that this wasn’t the case in my house.  Wonderfully, the replies I received confirmed that my family is not the exception.  It doesn’t have to be eaten at lunchtime (everyone’s Sundays are busy) but I believe it’s a ritual and tradition worth preserving.

When I was a student and sharing a flat with three friends, where cooking was concerned we had the typical student repertoire of the era, comprising 1001 things to do with mince. But believe it or not, one of our staples was also chicken fricassée.  I’m afraid I can’t remember the recipe in detail but it wasn’t like the dish I made for Sunday lunch today. Our student recipe involved sautéeing pieces of chicken and mushrooms and then adding a little flour, stock and milk (and possibly some cream) to make a white sauce.  We used to serve it with rice.

The origin of the term “fricassée” is French, possibly from “frire” (to fry) and “casser” (to break in pieces), which might explain why all the fricassée recipes I found in a quick Google search this afternoon used chicken pieces rather than a whole bird.  The one I made for lunch today, based on this recipe by Michel Roux which I read in the Times during the week, is the only one I’ve seen which involves roasting a whole chicken.  (Apologies if you’re not a Times subscriber and the article is behind the paywall.)

Anyway, we really enjoyed it; the tarragon sauce is delicious.  Sometimes it’s good to return to a simple classic.  We don’t need always to be finding the next fashionable thing to cook.

I made changes to the Roux recipe; very brave of me, I thought, considering his chef’s credentials and renown, but I honestly didn’t think we needed quite that much cream and also, when you have a roasting oven as hot as the Aga’s, why would you need to brown the chicken before putting it in the oven?

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (mine weighed 2kg)
• Butter
• 3 shallots
• Tarragon vinegar (I didn’t have any so used good quality white wine vinegar)
• About 100ml white wine
• About 100ml chicken stock
• About 150ml double cream
• Handful of tarragon leaves (adjust amount according to your preference)

Method

• Place the chicken in a roasting tin, spread butter all over it and season.
• Roast in the roasting oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, basting a couple of times during cooking.  I placed mine on the rack on the third set of rungs for the first 20 minutes, then moved the rack to the bottom of the oven with the tin on the fourth set of rungs.  The cooking time will obviously depend on the weight of your chicken.
• Remove the chicken, place on a dish and leave to rest (perhaps on the warming plate of your Aga)
• Pour off most of the fat, add a knob of butter and sweat the shallots gently for about 5 minutes.  Add 1tbsp vinegar and the white wine and let it bubble up for a few minutes.  At this stage I poured everything into a small saucepan: easier than continuing in the roasting tin.
• Add the chicken stock and boil until reduced a little.  Add the cream and repeat.  Check for seasoning.  Add the tarragon leaves at the last minute.  Pour into a jug for serving.  We ate our fricassée with new potatoes, broccoli and carrots.