Tarragon Roasted Free Range Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine the butter, tarragon, shallot, zest, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Mash with a spoon until smooth.
• Remove the giblets and excess fat from the cavity of the chicken and sprinkle it inside and out with salt and pepper. Using your fingers, loosen the skin over the breast and work 2/3 of the butter mixture into the space between the skin and breast meat. Rub the remaining butter mixture over the skin and in the cavity. Place the reserved tarragon stems in the cavity.
• Transfer the bird to a roasting pan fitted with a rack and roast for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 degrees and continue to roast until the juices run clear when the flesh is pricked with a fork at the thickest part of the thigh, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Make chicken:
• Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add reserved chicken fat and sauté until fat is rendered and solid pieces brown, about 8 minutes. Strain rendered fat into small bowl. Reserve solid fat pieces.
• Freeze 2 tablespoons rendered chicken fat. Heat 1 tablespoon rendered fat in same saucepan over medium-high heat. Add neck and heart pieces and sauté until brown, about 8 minutes. Add 1/2 cup onion and 1/2 cup carrots; sauté until vegetables are tender, scraping up any browned bits, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups cold water and reserved solid fat pieces. Bring to boil. Add parsley, thyme, peppercorns and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until stock is reduced to 2 cups, about 2 hours 30 minutes. (Stock can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
• Rinse chicken inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub 2 tablespoons frozen fat over chicken. Sprinkle chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Place chicken, breast side down, on rack in heavy large roasting pan. Fill main cavity with 1/2 cup onion and 1/2 cup carrots. Roast chicken until skin is pale golden and begins to crisp, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Insert large kitchen fork into main cavity of chicken and turn chicken breast side up. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into innermost part of thigh registers 180°F, about 1 hour 15 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter. Tent with foil while preparing jus.
• Make jus:
• Pour pan juices into 4-cup glass measuring cup. Do not clean roasting pan. Strain chicken stock into pan juices, pressing on solids to release liquid. Freeze stock mixture 5 minutes.
• Spoon fat off top of stock mixture and place 1 tablespoon fat in same roasting pan. Heat fat over medium heat. Add shallot and sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Add stock mixture and tarragon and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and whisk until melted and well blended. Season jus with salt and pepper. Serve chicken with jus.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Stuff the cavity of each chicken with 4 cloves of the garlic, half an onion, 2 lemons and 2 sprigs of tarragon. Season with salt and peppercorns.
• Lay the chickens, breast side down, on a rack over a small roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Baste continually with melted butter. After 30 minutes have elapsed, lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Continue basting until the meat is opaque at the bone, about 30 additional minutes.
• Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Set the chickens aside for 10 minutes. Pour out the fat that has accumulated in the pan. Place the roasting pan on a burner over medium heat. Stir in the chicken broth and simmer until it reduces to 3/4 cup, about 5 to 10 minutes. Strain.
• Cut the two chickens in half and divide among 4 plates. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with roasted potatoes.

Steps:

• Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
• Heat the oven to 400°F. Put an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter and shallots and cook, stirring, until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chopped tarragon and cook for 1 minute (be careful not to let the garlic brown). Arrange the chicken thighs in the pot in one layer, add the broth and wine, and bring to a simmer.
• Put the lid on and place the pot on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350°F and continue baking for 45 minutes, or until the thighs are tender. Put the thighs on a platter, cover loosely, and keep warm.
• Strain the pan juices through a fine sieve into a saucepan and spoon off any rising fat. Place the pan over medium-high heat, add the crème fraîche and lemon zest, and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
• Spoon the sauce over the chicken, garnish with tarragon leaves, and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Remove fat from the crop and cavity of the chicken. Remove the neck, gizzards and liver and freeze for another use.
• Squeeze half the lemon all over the skin of the chicken. Season the skin with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the remaining half lemon, garlic and 1 bunch whole tarragon.
• Put the chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up, and roast 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the juices run clear. During the first few minutes, either shake the chicken or move it frequently with a wooden spoon to keep it from sticking.
• When chicken is done, tilt it over the roasting pan to let the cavity juices run into the pan. Remove the chicken to a platter. Pour off the fat from the roasting pan.
• Put the pan on top of the stove. Add the wine and bring the contents of the pan to a boil, while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Stir in tarragon leaves. Let simmer 5 minutes once the pan is thoroughly deglazed. Serve the pan juices over the chicken or pass it separately in a sauce boat.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Finely grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the lemon, then set aside, keeping them separate from each other. Put the squeezed-out lemon and the tarragon sprig in the chicken cavity. Tip the potatoes into a large roasting tin and toss with the oil and a grinding of black pepper. Sit the chicken in the middle, but not on top of the potatoes and roast for 1¼-1½ hrs until the chicken is cooked but still moist, and the potatoes are tender and golden. Remove the tin from the oven, pour off any juices into a jug and set aside. Toss the lemon zest through the potatoes and leave the chicken to rest, covered, while you cook the greens.
• Pour 150ml water into a pan and add the bouillon. Drop in the leeks, cover and cook for 2 mins, then add the asparagus and peas. Cover again and cook for 2 mins more. Finally, stir through the spinach to wilt it. Pour the roasting juices into the veg with 2 tbsp lemon juice, the yogurt and tarragon leaves, and stir well. If you're following our Healthy Diet Plan, serve half the veg with the meat from a skinless chicken leg and breast. Eat the other breast and leg with the remaining veg on another day. Will keep for up to three days, covered, in the fridge. To serve, reheat on plates in the microwave. Reserve any meat left on the carcass for our healthy quinoa salad.

Steps:

• Butterfly chicken by placing it breast-side down and, using kitchen shears, cutting along both sides of backbone and through small rib bones. Discard backbone, and place chicken in a large plastic bag with zipper. Add 1/2 cup tarragon, the lemon juice and zest, and olive oil. Expel as much air as possible from bag, and make sure marinade coats chicken. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour and up to 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan, spread flat, breast side up. Roast until skin is crisp and golden, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Sprinkle with salt to taste, and cut into 8 serving pieces. Transfer to a platter, and garnish with remaining tarragon. Serve, if desired, with salad and roasted potatoes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Put the tarragon stalks, vegetables, olive oil and garlic in a heavy roasting tin. Place on a high heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to brown.
• While the vegetables are cooking, remove any string from the chickens, sprinkle the cavities with salt and pepper and stuff the lemon quarters inside.
• Lay the chickens, breast-side down, on top of the veg. Season with salt and pepper, scatter over half the chopped tarragon leaves, then drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp mustard with the remaining chopped tarragon leaves.
• Remove the roasting tin from the oven, turn the chickens over and spread with the mustard mixture. Return the chickens to the oven and roast for a further 40 minutes or until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced with a skewer.
• Remove the chickens to a dish or 2 large plates and cover each one with an upturned bowl. Skim any excess fat from the roasting tin. Place the tin on a high heat, pour in the wine, and boil for 8-10 minutes until the wine has almost completely reduced. Now pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then simmer for 5-7 minutes until reduced by half. Stir in 1 tsp mustard, season to taste and strain into a gravy boat.