Low Carb Chicken Fricassee. I don’t know exactly how many dishes I have based on French peasant food but I know it is more than a few and both Pulled Pork Butter Rillettes & Ratatouille comes to mind first. The French seem to always have been able to take nearly nothing by adding wine, butter & herbs and make something out of it, and this is not much different. Now, they would have probably taken a skinny scrawny old rooster or hen that was long past its prime eating and by braising it, bringing the thing back to life…with taste galore. Today we have bred the crap out of chickens and ended up with monsters. Yes, there is low carb chicken fricassee and a chicken thigh under all those creamed mushrooms & wine sauce.
I spatchcocked and roasted a duck not long ago and from that duck, not only did I get two glorious meals, I also got two cups of duck fat. (In the sour cream tub in the upper right next to the wine). Now sometimes a lot of duck fat can be used in the blink of an eye but when you use it for sautéing this & that, it easily lasts a very long time. The flavor of duck has no comparable; It is a flavor unto itself. I also cut off the skin from the backbone and roasted it too. When finished it is like eating candy which for low carbers is the best thing ever, ever.
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- 4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 2 T Duck Fat Or Schmaltz If You Have Them Otherwise Fat Of Choice (Butter Works)
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 Shallots Thinly Sliced
- ½ T Duck Fat Or Schmaltz If You Have Them Otherwise Fat Of Choice (Butter Works)
- 1 Lb Sliced Mixed Mushrooms
- 2 T Duck Fat Or Schmaltz If You Have Them Otherwise Fat Of Choice (Butter Works)
- ½ C White Wine
- 1 C Water + More As Needed
- ⅓ C Heavy Cream
- 1½ t Chicken Base
- 2 t Dried Tarragon Leaves
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- Heat 2 T fat to medium high.
- Pound room temperature thighs to even thickness.
- Season thighs with salt & pepper, add to the skillet, sautéing over moderately high heat, turning once until browned-about 3 minutes per side. Set aside.
- Add ½ T fat to pan and gently cook shallots. Set aside.
- Add last 2 T fat and sauté mushrooms. Set aside.
- Add wine, water, heavy cream, tarragon, & chicken base to pan and simmering, reduce to about ¾ original.
- Add back chicken, shallots, & mushrooms and simmer until warmed and chicken is finished cooking.
- 4 Servings
- 379 Calories, 27.8g Protein, 23.2g Fat, 5.8g Carbs, 1.3g Fiber, 4.5g Net Carbs
- The reasons I love duck fat for sautéing are as noted above 1.) the flavor and 2.) it will not burn under high heat the way butter can. Now I do eat a lot of browned butter but just not for this.
- This is a pretty intensely filling meal but if you can eat two of them-I could not-so be it. It will not break any carb banks.
- Absolutely not needed but I put a bed of spinach under my Fricassee and it was delicious.