Chicken in creamy tarragon sauce

Chicken in creamy tarragon sauce is a classic French-inspired oven dish in which fresh tarragon takes centre stage. The chicken is first fried until golden brown and then gently cooked in the oven in a sauce of white wine, chicken stock and cream. The result is a rich, velvety sauce and chicken that almost falls off the bone.

Serves: 4
Preparation: about 20 minutes
Cooking: 50–55 minutes
Total time: about 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 4–6 chicken legs or drumsticks (depending on size and appetite)
• 2 shallots
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 100 ml chicken stock
• 250 ml double cream (at least 30% fat)
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon
• extra fresh tarragon leaves for serving
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 180 °C (conventional).
• Peel and finely chop the shallots.
• Peel the garlic and slice thinly or finely chop.
• Finely chop the fresh tarragon; keep a small handful back for finishing at the table.
• Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper and season generously all over with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method

1. Brown the chicken until golden
   Heat the butter together with the olive oil in a large ovenproof pan or casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken legs (preferably in a single layer) and fry gently until golden brown all over. Take your time; good colour adds lots of flavour to the dish. Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate. Leave the cooking fat in the pan.
2. Make the base for the sauce
   Lower the heat slightly. Add the chopped shallots to the remaining cooking fat and sauté gently until translucent and soft, without letting them colour. Add the garlic and cook briefly, 30–60 seconds, until fragrant.
3. Deglaze and start the sauce
   Deglaze with the white wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine simmer gently for 3–5 minutes until reduced by about half. Add the chicken stock and bring briefly back to the boil. Pour in the double cream and stir everything together well.
4. Add the tarragon
   Now add the finely chopped tarragon (about 2 tablespoons) to the sauce. Bring the sauce gently to the boil, taste and, if needed, lightly season already with salt and pepper. Keep in mind that more flavour will come from the chicken.
5. Cook the chicken in the oven
   Return the chicken legs to the pan, skin-side up, making sure they are partially submerged in the sauce. Cover the pan with a lid or tightly with aluminium foil. Put the pan in the preheated oven and cook the chicken gently for 50–55 minutes, until the meat is very tender and comes away from the bone easily.
6. Finish and thicken the sauce
   Remove the pan from the oven and take off the lid or foil. Let the chicken rest in the sauce for 5–10 minutes, with the heat off, so the juices can redistribute in the meat. Taste the sauce and season with extra salt and freshly ground black pepper. Is the sauce still a little too thin for your liking? Carefully lift the chicken out of the pan and keep warm, covered. Put the pan with the sauce over a medium-high heat and let it simmer gently for a few minutes until it reaches the desired thickness. Then return the chicken to the sauce. The sauce should be creamy, fragrant and lightly thickened; the chicken meltingly tender.
7. Serve the chicken in tarragon sauce
   Serve the chicken in creamy tarragon sauce in the pan or on a warmed serving dish, with the sauce spooned generously around it. Garnish at the table with a few extra fresh tarragon leaves for extra fragrance and freshness.