Roast Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce

Poulet Roti Creme à l'Estragon - Roast Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce

Some types of foods or particular dishes can be tremendously evocative, just ask the famous French author Marcel Proust. I had all but forgotten about this simple but marvelous dish! The first time I tasted it was at Chez Janot's a real down to earth petit resto in Paris, in the 14th arrondissement, just a few blocks from the Boulevard du Montparnasse on the Rue d'Alésia. Back in those days I was hanging out with a cabaret singer by the name of Marilou, and we shared a little place near the resto and quite often would walk over and have dinner and plow through at least a couple of bottles of red wine over deep discussions.

Mind you, there was nothing pretentious about Chez Janot, nothing all. Washed-out red checked curtains with tablecloths to match, overstarched white napkins that stood at attention and a menu that hinged on the chef's (the propriétaire) culinary whim du jour. To be sure, the only real selection left to the customer was the wine: red or white vin de maison. Janot and Madame (his wife) were both from the Midi in the South of France and this was clearly reflected in the menu with flavors such as tarragon, wine, olive oil, garlic, rosemary and thyme, eggplant, lemons and more; in short, all the basic ingredients to manufacture heaven right here on earth. Marilou, a girl forever homesick for her South of France would often tell me how the food made her think of home. We both agreed that since the food was so good we would simply refused to mention it to any of our friends. It was "our place" or as Marilou would say, ici on est comme chez nous; Here it's like our home. That summed it up pretty well I thought.

We were loyal patrons that year, returning time and again, and eventually we became well known or connu to Chef Janot and Madame, the latter who would now spend a few "extra" minutes at our table discussing the weather, the health condition of her two poodles, her aching back from the Paris dampness, and always missing Provence then she would get down to business and discuss the menu. I remember one time Madame agreed to join us for un verre seulement, one glass only, after our meal of course, it was almost closing time and she sat down with her glass of Rosé de Provence and Chef Janot joined us with his Pastis which was slowly turning milky white from the ice cube. It was a very special moment in time. Years later, on the other side of the pond, I came across this marvelous dish, chicken in a creamed tarragon sauce, and for me it was a little bit like the author Marcel Proust taking his first bite of the Madeleine cookie. Like him, I too was overwhelmed with nostalgia and for a moment I clearly recalled, as if I were there, so many of the familiar sounds, the music, the laughter of people having dinner together, the cozy smiles of couples seated in the corner, Madame bustling about and most of all, the heavenly aromas wafting from Chez Janot's kitchen and of course, Marilou's smile.

Ingredients
Whole chicken (alternatively you could buy a whole chicken cut up)
3- 4 Tablespoons Heavy/whipping cream
Butter (real please)
2 Tsp tarragon
1/2 lemon
Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Directions
To roast the chicken:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Take any size chicken ( this one was 3 lbs), and rinse it off. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Place it in a roasting pan and squeeze a half a lemon over it, then place the lemon inside the cavity of the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken, and a few tiny pieces of unsalted butter. Work the butter and tarragon together then spread over the chicken and then coating the inside of said chicken.

Place in oven and reduce oven temperature to 350F.
Roast about an hour, or until chicken is browned and the juices run clear when you tip the pan. Jiggle the leg - if it jiggles freely and there is no sound from the chicken, it's done. If it seems stiff, roast it another 20 minutes and try again.

To make the sauce:

Pour the juices from the chicken into a skillet. Using a spoon, remove as much of the fat as you can. A little is fine, but too much makes for an oily sauce.

Heat the juices until they're simmering, then add several tablespoons of heavy cream, whisking the juices and the cream together.

Add another teaspoon of dried tarragon, whisk again, and taste carefully. Add salt, pepper, and more tarragon if wished.

Either serve pieces of chicken, or slices of chicken bathed in the sauce.

Obviously, the amount of sauce depends on the amount of juices - so if you have a larger chicken, it will take longer to cook, and require more cream and tarragon.

A classic French sauce creme a l'estragon! Invite some friends over to share this feast and enjoy a glass of wine.

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and a demi pichet (half a bottle) of red vin de maison, house wine of course. I would suggest a Beaujolais or a nice Côtes du Rhône. One can't go wrong either way!