Poulet A La Creme A L'Estragon

That is Chicken with cream and tarragon in French.  Did the French invent haute cuisine?  No, probably the Chinese did, they invented everything else, but the French did refine it.  And really, to be fair, this dish is not hoity toity, its a simple peasant dish from Normandy.  Now Normandy is the place where the pristine cave paintings by prehistoric man were found in all their Paleolithic glory.  Paintings of cave bears, mammoths and giant deer lay sleeping for millenniums until liberated by astounded anthropologists.  Along with the paintings they discovered the remains of ancient fires where roasted meats were cooked by long gone ancestors.  Its doubtful that ancient French men cooked chicken and cream over fires in their caves but one can speculate.  But the tradition of good country French food goes back a long time.  Normandy lies in the Northwest part of France where the winters are cold and the English Channel sends its sea breeze over land.  It is the place where hearty chicken dishes are served, roasted and creamy, to warm the belly and the soul.

   This recipe is simple to make.  Roasted chicken is always hearty and filling, but the smooth cream sauce and the exquisite bright flavor of the herb tarragon adds a special scrupulousness to this dish.  Here's how to make it.  

1 chicken, about 3 1/2 lbs

salt

10 or so sprigs of fresh tarragon

1 oz butter

3/4 cup chicken stock, low sodium

3/4 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche

   Season the chicken inside and out with salt.  Put half the tarragon inside the cavity

Melt the butter in a pot like a Dutch Oven.  Brown the chicken on all sides fro about 10 minutes.  Remove from the pot and pour away the butter.  Pour in the stock and deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon.  Return the chicken to the pot, cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour and 20 minutes.   

   When its almost done, strip the leaves from the rest of the tarragon and chop finely.  Remove the cooked chicken from the pot and keep warm.  Reduce the juices after removing the bits of chicken, until it reaches a syrupy consistency, then add the cream and boil for 2 minutes or so longer.  Stir in the chopped tarragon.  

   Carve the chicken and put it on plates.  Spoon the sauce over.  

   There you go, Poulet A La Creme A L'Estragon.  Delicious!  Serve with a dry white wine to cut through the cream.  Enjoy!