Spring Chicken RagoÛt Recipes

SPRING CHICKEN RAGU

Steps:

• Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add chicken, and cook over medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides, about 7 minutes total.
• Add stock and tomatoes, bring to a boil, and cover. Cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes; remove chicken, and set aside.
• Add carrots to skillet, and cook, covered, until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus, leeks, and peas, and cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, pull chicken from bone, and shred into large bite-size pieces. Return chicken to skillet, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Garnish with sprigs of parsley, if desired.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOûT WITH BROWN BUTTER COUSCOUS

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring 2 1/2 cups water to a rapid boil. Add salt and couscous, stirring as water returns to boil. Turn down heat to a bare simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. Dump couscous on a baking sheet or large platter, and spread out. Taste for salt and add more if necessary. Fluff, smash any large clumps and leave to cool, uncovered.
• Set up a steamer with a fine mesh basket, with water simmering on low heat, for eventual steaming of couscous. About 30 minutes before serving, put couscous in the steamer basket and raise heat to maintain a rapid simmer. Do not cover. (This extra steaming step produces lighter, fluffier couscous.)
• Make the green sauce: Put cilantro, salt, Serrano chile and olive oil in a blender or food processor. Pulse briefly, then purée into a paste. Add 1/4 cup water, and purée again. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in lime juice.
• Make the ragoût: Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a deep, wide skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add coriander and cumin. Let sizzle for a few seconds, then onions and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add leeks and season well with salt and pepper. Stir and cook onion-leek mixture until leeks are soft but still bright green, about 5 minutes.
• Add zucchini, season with salt and stir to coat. Add 3 cups water, raise heat to a boil, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add asparagus and peas, cover and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add favas, if using, and spinach, cover and cook 1 minute. Turn off heat. (Spinach will continue to cook.)
• Finish the couscous: Set a wide skillet over high heat. When pan is hot, add cold butter and let it sizzle and foam, turning rust-brown but no darker. Add preserved lemon and the saffron and its water to stop the browning. Turn off heat. Add hot couscous to pan and stir to incorporate all elements. Transfer to a warm serving bowl.
• Gently fold vegetables together, then lift from pot and transfer to a deep serving platter, using tongs or slotted spoon. Stir 2 tablespoons green sauce into liquid remaining in pot, then spoon liquid over vegetables. Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Pass remaining green sauce at the table.

CAJUN CHICKEN RAGOUT

Steps:

• Cook and stir bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a bowl with a slotted spoon, reserving 2 tablespoons bacon fat in the pan.
• Return skillet to medium heat; cook and stir onion, celery, and a pinch of salt until onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until bell peppers are soft, about 5 minutes.
• Pour vegetable oil into the onion mixture, sprinkle in flour, and cook until flour is browned and mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon black pepper, paprika, oregano, and cayenne pepper and stir to combine.
• Pour 1/4 cup of chicken broth into vegetable mixture; cook and stir, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan, until combined. Add remaining broth and Worcestershire sauce. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer until sauce is thick and reduced slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low. Add andouille sausage, chicken, and reserved bacon. Cook until heated hot.
• Remove from heat, stir in green onions, and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

EASY SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOUT

Steps:

• Soak leeks in cold water for 5 minutes; lift out and drain. Repeat until no grit remains on bottom of bowl. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-highheat. Add leeks and salt and sauteuntil leeks are tender, about 2 minutes. Stirin asparagus, then water. Simmer coveredfor 2 minutes. Add snap peas and radishes,cover, and simmer for 2 minutes more.
• Stir in mustard until well combined, then swirl in butter and herbs. Serve immediately.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOûT

Steps:

• Chop white and pale-green parts of leeks and wash well in a bowl of cold water. Lift leeks from water with a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander to drain. Trim fennel stalks flush with bulb and remove any discolored areas of bulb. Halve bulb lengthwise and cut each half crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices, discarding cores. Halve or quarter larger morels lengthwise, leaving smaller ones whole.
• Cook turnips in a 6-quart heavy pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer turnips with slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice water to stop cooking. (Keep water boiling.) Boil carrots until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes, and transfer with slotted spoon to ice water. Boil fava beans until crisp-tender, about 2‚ minutes, and transfer with slotted spoon to ice water. Gently boil potatoes until almost tender, about 15 minutes, and drain in colander. Rinse under cold running water. Drain blanched vegetables and gently peel outer skins from fava beans. Halve potatoes.
• Cook shallots, leeks, and salt and pepper to taste in 3 tablespoons butter in pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add broth, zest, and 1/4 cup herbs and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids. Discard solids and reserve broth.
• Cook morels in remaining 3 tablespoons butter in cleaned pot over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 3 minutes. Add fennel, asparagus, bell peppers, and reserved broth, then simmer, covered, until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Gently stir in blanched vegetables and simmer until all vegetables are just tender, about 4 minutes.
• Serve ragout sprinkled with remaining 1/4 cup herbs.

SALT BAKED CHICKENS WITH SPRING VEGETABLE AND MUSHROOM RAGOUT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Mix together the salt and pepper. Rub chicken with oil inside and out, then liberally coat with salt mix. Place chicken, breast-side up, in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. The chicken may have to be rotated for even coloring. When chicken is fully browned turn the oven down to 300 degrees. Cover with foil to prevent burning. Chicken will take another 35 to 45 minutes. Chicken is done when one can move the wing back and forth with great ease. Another test is piercing between the thigh and breast and the juices should run clear. Allow chicken to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
• For the Spring Vegetable and Mushroom Ragout: In a large, hot saucepan, add 2 tablespoons butter and saute shallots and garlic until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute. Season. Deglaze with white wine and reduce by 50 percent. Add chicken stock, soy, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, add peas, edamames, favas, carrots, and snap peas. Add the truffle oil and season. Check for seasoning. Bring back to temperature. Right before serving, add the chives.
• Using a large platter, serve a large mound of the ragout. Top with 2 chickens and serve family style.
• Wine Suggestion: York Creek, Pinot Blanc, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, 1996 Bedford Thompson, Cabernet Franc, Santa Barbara County, 1994
• In a medium bowl, mix the shredded chicken, ragout and basil oil. Check for seasoning. Fill the crock pots and place the puff pastry on top tightly. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until crust is dark brown. Serve as soon as possible.
• For the Basil Oil: In a blender, puree garlic, ginger, lime juice, salt and sugar and oil until smooth. Do not overmix thereby heating the mixture. Add the basil and puree smooth. Check for seasoning.
• Wine Suggestion: York Creek, Pinot Blanc, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, 1996 Bedford Thompson, Cabernet Franc, Santa Barbara County, 1994
• In a blender, add the Dijon and vinegars and blend. Drizzle in the oils to emulsify. In a large salad bowl, toss the chicken, pasta, tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and black pepper. Check for flavor.
• In a large pasta bowl, plate the entire salad and garnish with basil tops.
• Yield: 4 servings
• Wine Suggestion: York Creek, Pinot Blanc, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, 1996 Bedford Thompson, Cabernet Franc, Santa Barbara County, 1994

CHICKEN RAGOUT

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add in the onion; cook/stir 9-10 minutes, until golden.
• Add in mushrooms; cook/stir for 4 minutes; set mixture aside.
• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; heat a 5-quart Dutch oven over med-high heat.
• Add in chicken; brown it on each side.
• Deglaze pan with the wine, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom.
• Add in the soup mix, dried fines herbs, broth, bay leaf, and reserved onion/mushroom mixture.
• Cover the pan and simmer for 45 minutes, turning chicken several times during the cooking time.
• Remove bay leaf and serve.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOûT

Steps:

• In a kettle of boiling salted water boil the fiddleheads for 4 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender, transfer them with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop the cooking, and transfer them to paper towels to drain. In the kettle boil the squash and the carrots for 3 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender, transfer the vegetables with the slotted spoon to the bowl of ice and cold water to stop the cooking, and transfer them to paper towels to drain. In the kettle boil the peas for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are just tender, and drain them.
• In a large heavy skillet combine 2 tablespoons of the butter, the onions, the thyme, the bay leaf, 1/4 cup of the broth, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer the mixture, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the morels, halved lengthwise or sliced crosswise, and 1/2 cup of the remaining broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the morels are tender. Add the fiddleheads, the squash, the carrots, and the remaining 1/4 cup broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 1 minute. Add the peas, the parsley, the mint, and the garlic, simmer the ragout, covered, for 1 minute, and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits, stirring until the butter is just melted. Discard the bay leaf and season the ragout with salt and pepper.
• To clean fresh-picked fiddleheads:
• Snap off the crisp, bright green fiddlehead tops from ostrich ferns, leaving about 2 inches of stem attached. Rub off the dry brown casings by hand or put the fiddleheads in a wire salad basket and whirl the basket outdoors to remove the casings. Let the fiddleheads soak in a sink half full of cold water, changing the water several times to remove any grit or casing particles, and drain them. The fiddleheads keep, covered and chilled, for 1 week.

CHICKEN RAGOUT WITH ONIONS AND RED WINE

Steps:

• Brown chicken in large skillet on both sides in butter and oil.
• Remove chicken from pan and set aside, leaving the liquid in the pan.
• Add onions to the pan and saute till tender on moderate heat.
• Drain liquid over sieve into small bowl.
• Remove any unwanted fat.
• Set liquid aside.
• Season the chicken parts with salt/pepper and return to pan.
• Add tomato sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme.
• Add enough wine and chicken stock to cover chicken parts.
• Simmer for at least 20 minutes uncovered.
• Remove chicken and place on platter.
• Pour juices and onions into saucepan and adjust seasonings.
• You may add more garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.
• In small bowl whisk together flour and butter (or wine).
• Add to the sauce and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
• You may need to double the thickening agents if you have lots of juice.
• Pour sauce over chicken on platter and garnish with parsley.
• Serve with rice and crusty bread.