Roast chicken breasts with tarragon cream sauce

This is a quick version of the classic French dish of roast chicken with tarragon sauce but made with chicken breasts (supremes).

Preparation Time: 10 Mins

Cooking Time: 40 Mins

Total Time: 50 Mins

Ingredients

For 4 servings…

                      Olive oil    

 4                   Chicken supremes  - skin on    

                      Pepper      

                      Salt          

1 tbs               Honey  - runny        

For the sauce

70 ml              Noilly Prat  

10 cl               Stock  - chicken       

1 sprig            Tarragon   

10 cl               Crème fraîche          

2 tbs               Tarragon  - chopped 

Method

To cook the chicken…

Pre-heat an oven to 200°C.

Place a roasting tin on a hob and heat just enough oil in it to cover the base.  Place the chicken breasts skin-side down in the tin and leave until golden brown.  Season the upper side.

Turn over the breasts and brush the skin side with the honey, then season with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.  Lift the chicken breasts out on to a plate and keep warm.

To make the sauce…

Pour excess fat from the tin and then set it over a moderate heat.  Pour in the Noilly Prat and bring up to the boil - scraping off the residues from the chicken.  Boil hard until it is reduced to a tablespoon or two.  Add the stock and sprig of tarragon.  Boil hard until reduced by one third.  Stir in the crème fraîche, bring back to the boil and then boil until reduced to a light coating consistency.  Remove the tarragon sprig and stir in the chopped tarragon.  Season to taste.

Slice each chicken breast and fan out on individual plates.  Spoon some of the sauce over of the breasts and serve the remainder in a small jug.

Variations

If Noilly Prat is not available, use another white vermouth or a sweet white wine.

Although the recipe calls for chicken breast, other parts of the chicken can be used.

Wine recommendations

A white wine or light red wine.

Conventional

     Vouvray sec

Interesting

     Beaujolais Villages

     Côtes de Gascogne blanc

     Hautes Côtes de Beaune

     Menetou-Salon rouge

     Pinot Gris