Chicken and meatball blanquette in a coconut white sauce

A blanquette is a French white sauce stew, the kind of dish that fills a Sunday kitchen with the smell of rosemary and slow simmered broth. Rebuilding it with real, whole ingredients is a small act of bringing a favorite dish forward into how you cook now.

The chicken and beef here bring glycine and vitamin B12, both involved in the body's repair and energy work, and the long simmered broth base tends to sit gently. Coconut milk and arrowroot stand in for the classic egg yolk and flour, thickening the sauce the same way once you know the pattern: coconut milk plus broth plus arrowroot, brought to a boil.

This one takes a little time on the stove, and that time is part of the care. Let the broth reduce slowly, taste as you go, and serve it over cauliflower rice with a sprig of fresh rosemary on top.

Ingredients

• 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 2 pounds ground beef
• Sea salt
• Dried sage
• Fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk (in place of the dairy cream or egg yolk of a classic blanquette, which are not Core)
• 2 cups bone or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
• 5 tablespoons arrowroot flour (instead of a wheat-flour roux, which is not Core)
• Cauliflower rice, to serve

Method

• Season the ground beef with sea salt, dried sage, and chopped rosemary, then roll into small meatballs (the source makes about 60). Simmer them in water for about 20 minutes, then drain.
• In a small bowl, whisk the arrowroot into 1 cup of room-temperature broth until smooth and free of lumps. Set aside.
• In a large pot, bring the coconut milk, the remaining broth, sea salt, coconut aminos, and dried sage to a boil. Take it off the heat and whisk in the arrowroot slurry until the sauce thickens, about 30 seconds.
• Fold in the meatballs and shredded chicken. Rewarm gently on medium-low. Note that arrowroot sauce thins again if it is reboiled hot, so keep the heat low when reheating.
• Serve hot over cauliflower rice.

Instant Pot variation

Brown the seasoned meatballs on saute, then add a little water and pressure cook briefly to finish, around 5 minutes with a quick release (untested and estimated). Make the coconut-arrowroot sauce on the stovetop as above, since arrowroot is best whisked in off the heat, then combine and warm through on saute set to low.

*Adapted from a-squirrel-in-the-kitchen*