Le Poulet à l’Estragon - Roasted Tarragon Chicken

Le Poulet à l’Estragon - Roasted Tarragon Chicken is a classic French dish of chicken roasted with tarragon. It is simple but delicious - so much more than the sum of its few parts. It is traditionally served alongside potatoes or rice.

Home is where the heart is
We have lived it so many places that I have fallen at least a little bit in love with, if not head over heels. I am an unabashed Anglophile starting from my first few years of school on the British system from 1968-70 and a large piece of me will always love tropical Trinidad.

I can cook and samba with the best of Brazil and my deep relationship with Malaysia defies borders and description. Tanah Airku. My homeland. Although, of course, it’s really not.

I’ve been a devoted Francophile since the spring sun began warming our garden just south of Paris and our prolific cherry tree came into bloom in 1992. And I could go on.

But as a person who was raised to love food and adventures with ingredients and preparing deliciousness, let’s just talk some more about France. Never have I lived anywhere more obsessed with the sourcing and the cooking and eating of food. Unless you count my own grandmothers’ kitchens where we would talk about what to cook for the next meal even while eating the current meal.

I learned my way around buying the delicacies of France by asking questions and blundering through with my high school French. If only I had had this book!

A few weeks ago I received a very welcome email about a new book that was just being published called The Farm to Table French Phrasebook: Master the Culture, Language and Savoir Faire of French Cuisine.  It was written by a French woman named Victoria Mas and centered on FOOD: the etiquette of eating, great ingredients and their French translations, how to ask for what you want in France, how to buy it in markets and order it in restaurants or bakeries or butchers and, finally, with a few recipes at the end, how to cook some essential classic French dishes and desserts.

I could have saved myself a scolding from the market stallholders years ago with Victoria’s instructions not to touch the fruit but to allow the proprietor to choose the tomatoes or pears or lettuces for me, if only I had had this book. I could have avoided the distain of haughty French waiters by ordering in French from the get-go. Okay, that’s probably a pipe dream, but it would be worth a try, right?

Gift idea!
If you have aspirations as a Francophile, or know folks who already are, I highly recommend you get yourself or them a copy of this useful book. It’s hardback but a great little size for traveling, which you will want to do directly when it arrives; straight to France to try out all the vocabulary and hints and tips.

Thanks to the publisher, Ulysses Press, I have one copy to give away! Please scroll down to the bottom of this post to leave me a comment to enter. I’d love to hear about whether France is on your must-visit someday list or if some other food-centric country is at the top. It’s all about the food for me. :) If it’s some place else, maybe we can talk the publisher into making this a series with different native authors!

This is not a cookbook but, as I mentioned, it does have some recipes at the end so, even if your trip isn’t imminent, you can still enjoy French cuisine at home. I got permission to share the very simple but delicious recipe for chicken with tarragon with you. I was first introduced to the herb tarragon in France – Is it used anywhere as much as there? – and it is special. It elevates a simple chicken dish from ho-hum to remarkable. What follows is the original recipe as it is in the book with my adaptations in parentheses.

Le Poulet à l’Estragon - Roasted Tarragon Chicken

French tarragon, cultivated for its aromatic, somewhat anise-like flavor, with works beautifully with chicken or fish and is essential in a classic béarnaise sauce.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, 1.5 kg/about 3 lbs, cut into 6 pieces (I used 1kg or 2.2 lbs chicken thighs.)
30ml or 2 tablespoons olive oil
4 sprigs fresh tarragon
 (I couldn’t find fresh so I used a couple of teaspoons of dried.)
Salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C or 375°F.

(First I drizzled a little olive oil in my oven-proof dish.) Place the chicken pieces in an oven-safe dish. Drizzle with the olive oil, garnish with the tarragon, and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for about 40 minutes.

Turn the chicken pieces every 10 to 15 minutes so that all sides are evenly browned. (I set my timer for 15 minutes and sprinkled more salt, pepper and tarragon on the under side after the first turning.)

(I also browned it under the broiler or grill for about 10 minutes to crispy the skin at the end of the cooking time.)

Serve warm.

See those sticky bits? Those are THE BEST.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer:
This recipe is republished by permission from the publisher. I was sent a copy of The Farm to Table French Phrasebook: Master the Culture, Language and Savoir Faire of French Cuisine to review but no other compensation was offered or accepted. Links to the book are Amazon affiliate links.

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Tarragon Chicken

Tarragon Chicken is lovely dish of chicken, cream and tarragon - a classic in France. Serve it over rice or pasta.

I read cookbooks like novels. Every recipe evokes an emotion and hints at a story, the person who invented the dish, the culture that nurtured the tradition or the landscape that grows the local produce used. Jamie magazine’s 22nd issue is all about France and French cooking.

The whole issue was like snuggling into a warm bed in the dead of winter, while cold rain falls outside. We lived in Paris for three years and, while it wasn’t all a bed of roses and I can acknowledge the highs and lows of Paris, all in all it was a happy three years full of family, friends and fun and fresh food.

When I read this recipe, I knew I had to make it. Just the word tarragon brings me back. (Does anyone use tarragon but the French?)

Tarragon Chicken

Call it Tarragon Chicken or Petite Blanquette De Poulet a L’estragon, if you are feeling fancy. This recipe is adapted from one in the cookbook Boundary by way of Jamie magazine, Issue 22. 

Ingredients
3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 x 3 lb or 1.4kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 1/4 oz or 150g button mushrooms, quartered
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon or 50ml white wine
1 bunch of thyme, tied with string
5 bay leaves
2 cups + 1 tablespoon or 500ml chicken stock
1/3 cup or 40g flour
1/8 cup or 40g butter, softened
Juice of 1 lemon
Scant cup or 220ml whipping cream
2 egg yolks, beaten
3–4 tbsp chopped tarragon

Method
Heat two tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pan over a high heat. Add the chicken, in batches if necessary, and cook until browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Wipe out the pan then heat the remaining oil. (I skipped this step because I couldn’t bear to wipe away all the beautiful caramels of the pan. I don’t know why on earth you would want to get rid of all that flavor!) Add the carrot, celery and onion and cook over a medium heat for five minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the mushrooms and cook for a further five minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. 


Return the chicken to the pan with the thyme, bay and stock. Simmer, covered, for 40–50 minutes or till the chicken is falling off the bone.

Spoon the chicken and vegetables into a serving dish and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan. 
(I simply used a slotted spoon.)

Whisk together the flour and butter, (which we all remember is called beurre manie, right?) add to the cooking liquid, whisking continuously, and place over a medium heat.

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. (I don’t know if my simmer is hotter than the Jamie test kitchens, but I didn’t have a whole lot of juice let after the chicken and the vegetables were scooped out so I had to add about 3/4 cup of water to make the sauce easier to stir.)

Add the lemon juice and season to taste.

Combine the cream and egg yolks in a jug and whisk into the sauce.

Stir in the tarragon, pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. 



I served this over some lovely linguine. It was indeed delicious! Enjoy!