First Foods: Chicken Fricassee Recipe

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Classic French cuisine isn't just for adults with this Chicken Fricassee recipe.

Photo by Frédéric Lucano

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Create healthy, nutritious and adventurous foods for your baby with “Bébé Gourmet” by Jenny Carenco.

Cover courtesy The Experiment

20 minutes DURATION

15 minutes COOK TIME

5 minutes PREP TIME

Makes five 3 1/2 ounce (100 g) servings SERVINGS

Ingredients

1/2 turnip, just under 1/4 pound (100 g)
2 zucchini, about 1/4 pound (120 g)
1-1/2 cups (100 g) broccoli florets
1/2 cup (80 g) green beans
1 chicken breast, about 3-1/2 ounces (100 g)
1 teaspoon sunflower oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable stock
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon

Directions

Wash the vegetables and peel the turnips and zucchini.
Cut the turnips into cubes and the zucchini into rounds.
Cut the chicken breast into pieces.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and brown the pieces of chicken. Add the vegetables, stock, and tarragon, then cover the ingredients halfway with water and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Blend until you have a smooth purée. Add a little of the cooking liquid if the mixture is too dense or grainy.Can be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hoursMust be frozen at 0 degrees FAccompanimentsServe this dish with Sweet Potato Purée or Carrot and Cumin Purée, which can be found in A Mother’s Advice: Making Homemade Baby Food.
Yummy Tips
Want to show off for the whole family? Turn this recipe into Chicken Stuffed with Tarragon and Prosciutto. Count on 5 ounces (150 g) of chicken breast per person. Cut an opening in each breast at its thickest point, making a pocket without cutting the chicken completely in two. Cook the vegetables with the tarragon according to the recipe above, drain, and blend to make a dense purée. Place each chicken breast on a slice of prosciutto, then spoon some vegetable purée into the opening. Roll the breast to close the pocket and wrap the ham around the chicken, securing it with a couple of toothpicks. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the toothpicks and cut the chicken in two to reveal the pretty stuffing. Serve with a mixed green salad and bread spread with fresh goat cheese.
From Bébé Gourmet: 100 French-Inspired Baby Food Recipes for Raising an Adventurous Eater, copyright © Jenny Carenco, 2012. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold.

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It’s time to put the “food” back in baby food. Jenny Carenco delivers more than 100 enticing recipes that will introduce baby to new flavors, ingredients and textures in Bébé Gourmet (The Experiment, 2012). Encourage healthy eating habits while offering satisfying, homemade meals that are easy for today’s busy parents to make. The following excerpt for homemade baby food, from “First Lunches,” is for a Chicken Fricassee recipe.