Recipe - Spring Chicken Fricassee

4 Poussin; (abt 12 to 14 oz
ea), butterflied
Through the back bone
Salt; to taste
Freshlyground black pepper;
to taste
2 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Whole; unsalted butter
One half cup Purple pearl onions;
blanched, peeled
One half cup Dry sherry
1 One half cup Hot chicken stock
2 Bay leaves
3 Star anise
1 tablespoon Grated ginger
1 tablespoon Coriander seed
1 tablespoon Cardamom seed
One fourth pound Fresh morels; cleaned,
quartered
One half cup Fresh new peas
One half pound Pencil asparagus; woody stem
removed
4 ounce Creme fraiche
One fourth cup Chopped chives

Season the poussin with a generous sprinkling of salt and freshlyground
black pepper. Heat the olive oil together with the butter in a saute pan
with straight sides (sauteuse) over medium heat. Add the poussin, without
crowding, to the saute pan skin side down and cook slowly to brown the
chickens to a goldenbrown color. Turn the chickens to brown the other
side, add the pearl onions to caramelize with the chicken, and place a lid
on the pan. Allow the chicken and onions to simmer together for 5 to 7
minutes. Add the dry sherry to the saute pan and cook down to reduce the
liquid until almost evaporated. Add the hot stock together with the spices
tied in cheesecloth into an herb bouquet garni. Let this simmer slowly over
low heat for 30 to 35 minutes. After 20 minutes has gone by add the morels
to the pan and continue to simmer all together for the remaining 15 minutes
cooking time. Remove the chicken carefully from the pan, add the peas and
asparagus to the stock and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the creme fraiche
and cook together for 2 more minutes before spooning the vegetables around
the chicken and pouring the excess sauce into a sauceboat. Sprinkle chopped
chives over everything and serve. This recipe yields 4