Normandy Chicken Fricassee (EP)

• 1 chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, and 2 breasts, halved), skin removed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup diced (1/2-inch) carrots
• 2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch dice (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup diced (1/2 inch) celery
• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped (1 teaspoon)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup dry white wine (such as Chardonnay) [I guess I used a Chenin Blanc Viognier]
• 1/2 cut water
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup frozen baby peas
• 2 tablespoons Calvados or applejack [I used the applejack I bought for the Duck and Apples dish]

Mise en place.

Browning the chicken pieces.

Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, parsley (what parsley?  hahah), thyme, and bay leaf.  Cover and cook for five minutes.  Add wind and water, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

I made my first beurre manie which is a paste one makes of equal parts flour and butter.  The combination of fat and butter is not a novel one to me since I've cooked a roux a handful of times, but it's sort of cool to do something for the first time.

Remove and reserve the chicken.  Add beurre manie, whisking steadily.  Add cream and peas and bring to a boil and then a 1 minute simmer.  Off heat, stir in the Calvados and taste for seasoning.

This was quite good.  As a classic French dish, it doesn't have much of a chance to really wow me, but this wasn't a bad dish at all.  It'd be nice to eat off a dinner plate, but we didn't have the luxury at that time.
The vegetable were a little less than tender, but overall, I executed this well.  It came together effortlessly after the prep.