Chicken With Tarragon And Leeks Food

BRAISED CHICKEN TARRAGON

Steps:

• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, skin side down; cook until skin is browned, about 5 minutes. Turn, and cook until other side is browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate; set aside.
• Add leeks to skillet; cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add tarragon; cook 1 minute. Add wine; deglaze pan, scraping up any browned bits from bottom, until liquid evaporates. Add stock and zest. Cover; bring to a boil. Return chicken to skillet; simmer, covered, over medium-low heat until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a platter; keep warm. Place skillet over high heat; cook until sauce thickens, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. To serve, spoon sauce over chicken; garnish with tarragon sprigs.

LEMON-TARRAGON ROAST CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub chicken inside and out with one garlic half. Place both garlic halves and the tarragon sprigs in cavity. Stir together butter, shallot, chopped tarragon. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Loosen skin of chicken near cavity with hands; spread butter mixture under skin all over flesh.
• Squeeze juice from lemon halves over chicken; place in cavity. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Halve the large onions horizontally at an angle. Arrange in the middle of a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan to form a square. Position halves so that the slanted ends of each pair face each other, inward, and almost touch. Place chicken, breast side up, on onion "rack."
• Quarter the small onions; arrange with carrots, celery, and potatoes around bird. Tuck lemon slices between wings and breast, and legs and breast. Pour wine and stock over vegetables.
• Roast chicken and vegetables, basting 2 or 3 times with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165 degrees and juices run clear, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove pan from oven, and let chicken stand 10 minutes. Carve chicken. Arrange chicken and roasted vegetables (including rack onions) on a platter. Spoon pan juices over meat.

CHICKEN TARRAGON WITH LEEKS

Steps:

• Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray.
• Cook chicken breasts over medium heat, turning once, about 6-7 minutes per side, or until juices run clear.
• Remove the chicken and keep it warm.
• Cook the leeks about 3 minutes on medium to medium high, until crisp tender, stirring often.
• Mix the remaining ingredients and stir into leeks.
• Bring to a boil, stirring on occasion.
• Boil and stir about 1 minute until thickened slightly.
• Add the chicken and heat through.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH LEEK, TARRAGON & GOAT'S CHEESE STUFFING

Steps:

• Chop the leeks and onion fairly finely: use the pulse button if chopping them in a food processor, so they don't turn to mush. Melt 25g/1oz butter in a large frying pan placed over a lowish heat and fry the vegetables gently for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft. Set the pan aside to cool.
• Strip off all the herb leaves and put them in a food processor with the remaining butter, the cheeses, breadcrumbs and the cooled vegetables. Season, then pulse until the mixture is a rough, sticky, dough-like mass.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Place the chicken with the large cavity facing towards you. Remove and discard any fat remaining inside the opening. Now gently separate the skin over the breast area from the flesh beneath: use the tip of a small knife to get going, then gently ease your fingers in between and work them to the far end on both sides of the breast bone.
• Without tearing the skin, push in dollops of stuffing, massaging them right down and over the flesh. (Put any leftover stuffing into the small neck cavity.) Pull the skin back into place and seal in the stuffing by stitching 2-3 wooden toothpicks through the edges of the opening, like a needle in a tapestry. You can make the stuffing up to 24 hours ahead, keeping it cling-filmed in the fridge.
• Put the chicken in a snug-fitting roasting tin, smear the skin with oil and season. Roast the chicken, breast-side up, for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken on its side, basting with any juices, and roast for a further 30 minutes, then roast for an equal period on the other side. Now turn the chicken breast-side up again, and continue to roast for 10-30 minutes, or until the juices run clear when a skewer is poked into the thickest part of the thigh.
• Leave the chicken to rest in the tin for 15-20 minutes, loosely draped with foil. To serve, first remove the toothpicks, then carve the chicken, spooning some of the soft stuffing onto each serving.

JERRY TRAUNFELD'S TARRAGON CHICKEN BREAST WITH BUTTERY LEEKS

Steps:

• Place leeks in a large skillet with chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of the butter.
• Cook at a gentle boil over medium heat until the leeks are tender and the broth has boiled down far enough so that the leeks are no longer completely submerged; this should take about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
• Place them on top of the simmering leeks, spoon some of the leeks over the chicken, and cover the pan tightly.
• Reduce the heat to low; after 10 minutes, test the chicken for doneness. It should feel firm when you press it. If breast pieces are large, it could take as long as 15 minutes, but don't overcook them.
• When the chicken is done, transfer it to a warm platter.
• Increase the heat under the leeks to high; stir in the lemon juice , the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the tarragon.
• When the butter melts, season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour the leek sauce over the chicken and serve.