Monday, May 4, 2009

Lemon Tarragon Chicken

The chicken breasts we got yesterday seem to have been from some mutant bird the size of an albatross (even though, supposedly, they were organic - go figure). So we split them between yesterday and today.

So, chicken again.

This is another simple dish with a truly delicious sauce. (It doesn't count as part of the resolution, as first made it sometime last year.)

The Recipe: Lemon Tarragon Chicken
From Dairy Diary Hearty & Healthy
  • 4 x 4oz (110g) chicken breasts
  • 1 lemon, grated zest and 2 tbspn juice
  • 4 tspn olive oil
  • 1 tbspn chopped fresh tarragon [or about 1.5 tspn dried]
  • 3 fl oz (90ml) dry white wine
  • 4 tbspn half-fat creme fraiche [we can only get full fat]

Serves 4.

1. Remove any sinews from the chicken breasts, then cut them in half horizontally. In a non-metallic dish mix together the lemon juice, 2 tspns of the oil, and the tarragon. [I add the lemon zest here too - did this initially by mistake, but like it this way.] Add the chicken breasts, making sure they are coated in the marinade, and refrigerate for 20-30 mins.

2. Heat a large saute pan. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook over a medium heat for about 5 mins. Turn, and cook for another 4 mins, or until done (don't overcook).

3. Remove cooked chicken from pan and keep warm on a plate. Pour the wine into the hot pan, reduce it by about half, and then, over a low heat, whisk in the creme fraiche.

4. Serve the chicken on hot plates, with potatoes & green beans. Spoon the sauce on top, and sprinkle with lemon zest and a few more chopped tarragon leaves.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Managed to overcook the chicken, in spite of warning, but apart from that it was great.

They suggest serving with new potatoes slightly crushed (rather than mashed) with chopped spring onions - sounds nice, but we didn't do it.

Just thinking about it now, the creme fraiche does make quite a contribution to the flavor of the sauce. Creme fraiche is one of those things that's completely commonplace in UK and a specialty item here, sorry. It would be worth trying to hunt it down for this, but it is a bit pricey. Or you could probably try regular cream instead, and let me know how it turns out [update: a friend actually did try it with cream and it curdled - so much for that idea! sorry!]. Or... you could even make it yourself, apparently!

Pix

Another bad pic (the garnish is particularly sad-looking):

2 comments:

Bob said...

That sounds great, lemon and tarragon are a great combo. Too bad about over cooking the chicken, but at least it wasn't undercooked. That's far worse. ;)

Yesica N. Cook said...

I know - I'm so paranoid about underdoing it (to a ridiculous degree).

Noticed another good chicken/tarragon recipe over at Half Assed Kitchen: http://alladither.typepad.com/halfassedkitchen/2009/04/chicken-with-tarragon-and-leeks.html