The wonderful combination of chicken cooked with sherry, sherry vinegar and tarragon is simply superb creating delicious flavours. It is also good to spread the love. We cooked this dish for Mel and Hywel friends from the Manoir de Jouralem, and it was good to hear back from them, to say how much they enjoyed it, and that Hywel had added it to their repertoire.
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Ingredients
1.75 kg chicken, jointed into 8 pieces, or 4 bone-in chicken breast portions
5 150 ml sherry vinegar
2 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
4 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
425 ml medium-dry Amontillado sherry
.
1 heaped tablespoon crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper
To garnish: 8 small sprigs of fresh tarragon
Method
First of all, heat the oil in the frying pan and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then, when the oil begins to shimmer, fry the chicken (in two batches) to brown well: remove the first batch to a plate while you tackle the second. Each piece needs to be a lovely golden-brown colour. When the second batch is ready, remove it to the plate to join the rest. Then add the shallots to the pan, brown these a little, and finally add the garlic cloves to colour slightly.
Now turn the heat down, return the chicken pieces to the pan, scatter the tarragon leaves all over, then pour in the vinegar and sherry. Let it all simmer for a bit, then turn the heat to a very low setting, so that the whole thing barely bubbles, for 45 min (I did mine for 50 min). Halfway through, turn the chicken pieces over to allow the other sides to sit in the sauce.
When they’re ready, remove them to a warm serving dish (right side up) along with the shallots and garlic. The sauce will by now have reduced and concentrated, so all you do is whisk the crème fraîche into it, taste it and season as required, then pour the sauce all over the chicken and scatter with the sprigs of tarragon.
This is lovely served with tiny new potatoes tossed in mint, and peas.
Original recipe Delia Smith Summer Collection
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