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Chicken Fricassee with Porcini Mushrooms, White Wine, and Tomatoes

For 4 servings

A 3½-pound chicken, cut into 4 pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

½ cup dry white wine

A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted as described and cut up

The filtered water from the mushroom soak, see instructions

¼ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped coarse, with their juice

1 tablespoon butter

1. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.

2. Put the oil in a saute pan, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the oil is very hot, slip in the chicken pieces, skin side down. Brown them well on that side, then turn them and brown the other side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, turn them once, then add the wine. Let the wine simmer briskly for 30 seconds as you scrape loose browning residue from the bottom and sides of the pan with a wooden spoon.

3. Add the chopped reconstituted porcini, the filtered water from their soak, and the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Turn over all ingredients then adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer, and put a lid, slightly ajar, on the pot. Cook until the bird’s thighs feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone, about 50 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces from time to time while they are cooking.

4. When the chicken is done, transfer it to a warm serving platter. Tip the pan and spoon off all but a little of the fat. If the juices in the pan are too thin, boil them down over high heat. Swirl into them the 1 tablespoon of butter, then pour all the contents of the pan over the chicken and serve at once.

Chicken Fricassee with Red Cabbage

IN THIS FRICASSEE, chicken pieces cook smothered in red cabbage, which keeps them tender and invests them with some of its own sweetness. By the time the chicken is done, the cabbage dissolves into a dense, clinging sauce.

For 4 servings

1 cup onion sliced very thin

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon

2 garlic cloves, peeled and each cut into 4 pieces

4 cups red cabbage shredded fine, about 1 pound

A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces

½ cup dry red wine

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

Salt

1. Put the sliced onion, the ¼ cup oil, and the garlic in a saute pan, turn the heat on to medium, and cook the garlic until it becomes colored a deep gold. Add the shredded cabbage. Stir thoroughly to coat well, sprinkle with salt, stir again, adjust heat to cook at a gentle simmer, and put a lid on the pan. Cook the cabbage for 40 minutes or more, turning it over from time to time, until it has become very tender and considerably reduced in bulk.

2. Wash the chicken pieces in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.

3. In another pan, put in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, turn on the heat to medium, and, after warming up the oil very briefly, put in all the chicken pieces skin side down in a single layer. Turn the chicken after a little while to brown the pieces equally on both sides, then transfer them to the other pan, all except the breast, which you’ll hold aside until later. Turn the chicken over in the cabbage, add the wine and a few grindings of pepper, cover the pan, putting the lid on slightly ajar, and continue cooking at a slow, steady simmer. From time to time turn the chicken pieces over, sprinkling them once with salt. After 40 minutes add the breasts. Cook for about 10 minutes more, until the chicken is tender all the way through and the meat comes easily off the bone. You will no longer be able to recognize the cabbage as such; it will have become a dark, supple sauce for the chicken. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.

Ahead-of-time note The dish can be prepared up to this point even 2 or 3 days in advance. Reheat completely in a covered pan before proceeding to the next step.

Fricasseed Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Juice

For 4 servings

A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces