Microwave Chicken Fricassee

Yield: 6 servings

[edit] Ingredients

2	tablespoons unsalted butter
1	medium onion (about ½ pound), peeled and sliced
1	carrot, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
½	pound mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and quartered
1	tablespoon lovage or celery leaves
1	bay leaf
1	chicken (4 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and cut into serving pieces,
	inch breasts cut
	half across the bone
1 ½	cups chicken broth
	Kosher salt
	Freshly ground black pepper
2	tablespoons cornstarch
½	cup heavy cream
3	egg yolks
2	tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3	tablespoons chopped parsley

[edit] Preparation

Step 1	Heat butter, uncovered, in a 2-quart souffle dish at 100 percent for 2 minutes in microwave. Add onions, carrots, mushrooms and lovage; stir to coat with butter. Add bay leaf. Arrange chicken, skin side down, on vegetables. Place breast pieces in center of dish and arrange remaining pieces around them, with meatiest portions toward outside of the dish. Add broth, salt and pepper. Cover tightly with microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent for 18 minutes.
Step 2	Remove from microwave oven. Prick plastic. Let sit for 6 minutes. Uncover and skim fat. Stir cornstarch into 1/4 cup of the cream. Stir in remaining cream and egg yolks, then add 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Stir cream mixture thoroughly into stew. Cover tightly with microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent for 4 minutes.
Step 3	Remove from microwave oven. Uncover and stir in lemon juice and parsley.
Step 4	Taste and correct seasoning.
Step 5	ODENServes 6
Step 6	1 cake konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly; this gelatinous substance is made from a type ofyam)
Step 7	Salt1 medium daikon radish (about 1/2 pound)
Step 8	6 cakes ganmodoki (a type of deep-fried tofu) or 6 cakes of yakidofu (grilled tofu)
Step 9	6 cakes satsuma age (deep-fried fish cake)
Step 10	4 chikuwa (fish paste rolls)
Step 11	2 packages kamaboko (fish paste; comes on a wooden board)
Step 12	1 2 inch square kombu (giant kelp)
Step 13	1/4 cup mirin (sweet cooking wine)
Step 14	2 teaspoon salt6 hard-boiled eggsCondiments:Soy sauceChinese hot mustardRed pepper flakes
Step 15	Rub the konnyaku lightly with salt, wash and parboil. Cut into triangles about 1/2 inch thick and with sides about 2 inches long.
Step 16	Peel the daikon and cut into rounds or half-moons about 1 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Boil in water to cover until almost tender.
Step 17	Pour boiling water over the ganmodoki to remove excess oil. Drain. Cut into pieces about 1 1/2 inches wide. Cut the satsuma age, chikuwa and kamaboko into 1/2 inch-thick slices.
Step 18	Wipe the kombu with a clean, moist cloth. Put it in a flameproof ceramic pot
Step 19	(or in a shallow, wide pot) and add 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, add mirin and salt to taste. Add the konnyaku and daikon; simmer a few minutes, then add eggs and fish cakes. Simmer uncovered on low heat for at least an hour (longer is better). Don't let the stock boil away.
Step 20	Bring the pot to the table and serve in bowls. Provide small condiment dishes for soy sauce, mustard and pepper for dipping.
Step 21	Note: Fish cake comes in various shapes and sizes and with different additions. Some have vegetables or shrimp added. You can substitute ingredients - round satsuma age balls for the flat satsuma age, for example - and vary the mix as you like.