Roasted chicken, tomatoes and tarragon recipe
- 1 free-range chicken (about 1.8kg), jointed into 8 pieces (or a similar weight of bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 0.5 glass of white wine (or use water if you prefer)
- 0.5 lemon, juice only
- 500 g (17.6oz) ripe tomatoes (any shape or size), halved or quartered
- 1 bunch of tarragon, leaves only, coarsely chopped
- 1 pinch sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5.
- Season the chicken pieces well all over with salt and pepper.
- You'll probably need to sear them in two batches.
- Heat the olive oil in large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the chicken and sear, turning the pieces several times, until they are golden brown all over.
- Transfer, skin side up, to an oven dish or roasting tin.
- Now, to deglaze the frying pan, pour in the wine and let it bubble over the heat, stirring well to scrape up any bits of caramelized chicken from the bottom.
- Pour the liquid from the pan into the oven dish (but not directly over the chicken).
- Add the lemon juice and give the chicken skin an extra scattering of salt and pepper.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the dish from the oven, uncover and add the tomatoes, nestling them, cut side up as far as possible, among the chicken pieces.
- Roast, uncovered, for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the tomatoes are soft and blistered.
- Scatter over most of the tarragon and toss to mix.
- Rest for a few minutes so the tarragon flavour infuses the juices.
- Sprinkle over the remaining chopped tarragon and the dish is ready to serve.
- It's good with new potatoes, mash, rice or bread.
- If you can't lay your hands on fresh tarragon, try this with flat-leaf parsley - using about three times as much.
- Or try roughly shredded sorrel leaves.
- In each case, the effect is quite different, but still delicious.
- The dish also works really well with pheasant in place of chicken.
chicken, olive oil, glass of white wine, tarragon, salt
Taken from www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/17987/chicken-tomatoes-and-tarragon-casserole-recipe (may not work)