Chicken and Crayfish

This was in my grandmothers recipe file, written on a yellowed scrape of paper. I tried this recipe a few years ago and it is really good. I had fill in a few of the blanks since part of the recipe was faded and very hard to read.

Chicken and Crayfish

Ingredients

2 3lb chickens cut up
16 medium size cremini mushrooms, sliced
16 to 18 cray fish, cleaned and very much alive (you can use shrimp in stead of crayfish , if the crayfish are not in season)
4 large tomatoes, chopped and seeded
2 medium onions, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup white wine, dry
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large dutch oven place butter over medium heat to melt, raise heat to medium high and add the chicken brown on all sides, about 15 minutes or so. Remove chicken and set aside and pour off all but 2 table spoons of the melted butter and chicken juices. Now add onions to dutch oven and saute until golden. Return the chicken to the dutch oven along with the tomatoes, garlic, wine, chicken stock, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 40 to 45 minutes. About 8 to 10 minutes before the chickens are done add the crayfish to the dutch oven. Note if you are using shrimp add them 4 to 5 minutes before the chickens are done.

Once the chickens and the crayfish are done, remove from dutch oven and arrange on a deep platter; and place in a warm oven to keep warm as you make the sauce.

In the dutch oven you just removed the chicken and crayfish from add the mushroom, bring the heat to medium and saute the mushrooms for about 15 minutes. Then pour the contents of the dutch oven over the chickens and crayfish are serve. Sprinkle the fresh parsley on top. Note: remember to remove the bay leaf before serving.

Serve with a fresh baguette.

Enjoy Cooking