Chicken Fricassee

Name: Chicken Fricassee
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: Chicken thigh; Chicken breast; Plain flour; Onion; Carrot; Celery; Garlic; Chicken stock; Fat-free Greek yoghurt; Flat-leaf parsley; Salt; Black pepper

Chicken Fricassee, plated as one serving.

492 kcal a serving, against 928 for the traditional version. That is 436 kcal off, or 47%, with 60.8g of protein. Serves 4. 1 hour 20 minutes.

What the traditional version is

In the usual recipe, you take a whole chicken and joint it, then brown the pieces in about 70g of vegetable oil until everything is golden. You take out the chicken, add 60g plain flour to the hot fat and cook it to a nut brown to get that velvety sauce base. Then in go onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and about a litre of chicken stock, with the chicken going back in to simmer.

What changed, and what each change costs

Ditch the 70g oil from browning and the 60g fat in the roux

This is where the classic soaks up most of its calories. Browning chicken in its own skin and adding oil is lovely, but you're basically deep-frying at this point. You'll miss the glossy finish, but you won't miss having to mop the grease off your chin.

What it costs you. The sauce isn't silk - more like a smart everyday shirt than a ballgown. Still coats a potato well.

Skin-on chicken thighs to skinless thighs and a touch of breast

Skin is there for two reasons: flavour and insulation. But skinless thighs and breast together give a nice balance of taste and lean protein. Use a bit more chicken, since you're losing the fat weight.

What it costs you. You lose that sticky, slightly fatty stew, and the chicken texture isn't quite as lush. Still tastes of actual chicken.

Fat-based roux to dry-toasted flour

Toasting flour in a dry frying pan gives you colour and a hint of that nuttiness, but never the richness of a proper roux. It bumps up protein per bite, since you can use a bit more chicken in the bargain.

What it costs you. The sauce comes out smooth but honest - no one's fooled into thinking you've used butter.

Double cream swapped for fat-free Greek yoghurt

Bit of a cheat, but Greek yoghurt stirs in at the end for tang and body without the cream's calorie crash. Use it off the heat so it doesn't split.

What it costs you. You miss that velvet finish and the rich aftertaste, but the yoghurt brings a nice sharpness. It isn't cream, it's lighter and livelier.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Chicken thigh
Chicken breast
Plain flour
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Garlic
Chicken stock
Fat-free Greek yoghurt
Flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Black pepper

How it starts

Start by toasting the flour dry in a frying pan over medium heat.
Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper.
Remove the chicken.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Southern.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	928	492
Protein	47.1g	60.8g
Fat	67.3g	12.1g
Saturated fat	19.1g	3.1g
Carbohydrate	31.6g	31.6g
Protein per 100 kcal	5.1g	12.4g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Southern prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten, milk, celery.

The method is in the book

You lose that proper French gloss and a fair whack of richness, trading it for a sauce that's lighter, homelier, and a good deal more honest about what it is. The toasted flour is the best trick for saving face - the first time you make it, you'll think it's a poor swap, but on the third you won't miss the oil as much. The yoghurt is surprisingly good in place of cream, but you can't lie to yourself: if you want silk and fat, the classic still wins. If you want something you can eat for lunch and still face the afternoon, this is your bird.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Southern, along with 50 more. Buy the paperback