Tarragon Chicken
I’ve enjoyed cooking at home all of my adult life. Even in college, post-meal-plan-life, I loved going to the grocery store and cooking my meals. Though at this time in my life, I had to get creative with what I made between the lack of money and time.
When I graduated, this cooking hobby elevated a bit because I eventually got a job and was making what felt like was a fortune (update, it wasn’t, but coming from essentially no income, it was exciting).
I found this recipe in 2014 and made it after work one day. Since I didn’t love my job at that time, if I could spend an evening creating something beautiful, it got me energized. I remember being so impressed with how it turned out, specifically the sauce. It was rich and complex and I wanted to drink it. This is also a dish where it will get better each time you make it because you’ll learn what works, what doesn’t and the intuition will set in.
I also used to do this hilarious thing where I would buy a regular bottle of wine whenever a recipe called for some small portion of wine — I now know you can usually use cooking wine or save leftover wine for this and save some money. If you’re planning to drink wine with the meal, then please be like Baby Adult Bentley and go for it (though a light, dry red would pair better than white IMO).
Poulet à l'Estragon (Tarragon Chicken) from Food52
Bentley’s Way
You can use dried tarragon if you really need to, but fresh is way better if you can find it. I believe this so much that I will postpone making this recipe if I can’t find fresh.
I do not use a whole chicken, I’ve experimented with all types of chicken pieces though. No surprise, bone-in dark meat is best or boneless dark meat if preferred.
Serve with plain, fluffy long grain white rice so the sauce can thrive (I would not do potatoes). Also, simply roasted green beans are awesome on the side too — I use fresh, toss in olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and roast at about 375 degrees Fahrenheit until slightly shriveled (15-20 minutes).
