Tarragon Chicken

I’ve made various versions of tarragon chicken over the years and in some sort of poulet a l’estragon mental block have always failed to blog it afterwards. That was nearly the case on this occasion too but on serving I managed to remember to snap a couple of shots and then hastily scribbled down the recipe when we were done.

Poaching the chicken in the stock after you have browned the skin makes it lovely and tender. Speaking of which, feel free to use chicken breasts if you prefer and you could bash them with a rolling pin to make them thinner and further reduce the cooking time if you wish.


Tarragon Chicken
serves 2

150g mushrooms, sliced
4 spring onions, finely sliced
½ tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp butter
4 chicken thighs
125ml chicken stock
vermouth
150ml double cream
½ tsp dried tarragon
2 tsp chopped tarragon
½ tsp sea salt flakes
ground white pepper

Over a medium heat put the olive oil, spring onions, garlic and dried tarragon into a frying or sauté pan with a teaspoon of butter.

Season the chicken thighs, add them to the pan and sauté until the skin is crisp and nicely coloured and then turn them over so they are skin-side up.

Add a good splash of vermouth to the pan and let it sizzle down before adding the stock.

Let it simmer for around 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the thighs and leave to rest on a warm plate.

Reserve any liquid from the pan and then add the the mushrooms to the pan and sauté in a teaspoon of butter.

Add the cream, simmer until it reduces by half, then add the chicken, most of the chopped fresh tarragon, a good pinch of white pepper and the cooking liquid you may have set aside before when you took the chicken out.

Garnish with the remaining tarragon and serve with peas or broad beans and roasted new potatoes.