Tarragon pairs well with a variety of fish, and it also tastes delicious in a dipping sauce for fish sticks. It goes well with salmon, tuna, snapper, and even other types of fish. Fresh tarragon complements bivalves like clams and scallops. Seasoned pan-fried chicken breasts with a creamy tarragon sauce. It’s a great comfort food dinner that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. It’s perfect for a quick midweek meal or a special weekend or date-night dinner.
Tarragon is a culinary herb that is used in both cuisine and drink. When served with meat and seafood, especially chicken, a creamy tarragon sauce with herbs is quick, simple, and tasty to make. To make a thick sauce, milk, sour cream, and herbs are mixed into a straightforward roux composed of flour and butter. There is no reliable scientific evidence to support the use of tarragon for any of these illnesses, including indigestion (dyspepsia), poor appetite, nausea and vomiting following surgery, toothaches, and sleep issues.
What is Tarragon?
Tarragon is a leafy green herb with a subtle licorice flavor. It adds a fresh, spring flavor and a touch of elegance to various recipes, including salad dressings, sauces, and fish and chicken dishes, and is commonly used in French cooking.
Because of the presence of methyl chavicol, a naturally occurring compound found in many plants and trees with a distinct licorice-like taste and fragrance, the spicy, bittersweet flavor of tarragon is often compared to licorice, anise, and fennel.
Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), also known as estragon, is a perennial herb in the Asteraceae family. It grows wild throughout Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medicinal purposes. Most supermarkets include a dried tarragon section among spices, and there are many significant stores that sell it online. Being less well-known than other herbs like parsley, chives, dill, and cilantro, fresh tarragon could be a little harder to come by.
How to Make Creamy Tarragon Chicken?
Simple ingredients combine to make this super easy, darn tasty dinner. We also think the sauce is rather fancy, like something you’d get in a French restaurant, being rich, creamy, and flavorful. Take a look at the ingredients below, you probably already have everything. With the exception of the tarragon, perhaps. So it’s great that this recipe works equally well with dried tarragon (which lasts forever) as it does with fresh.
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp infused garlic olive oil
- 2 large or 4 small spring onions (finely sliced)
- 12 tsp freeze-dried tarragon
- 2 fillets of chicken breast (skinless and boneless)
- 80 mL of vermouth or white wine
- 12 teaspoon flakes
- sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon pouring salt
- 60 mL of double cream
- white pepper, freshly ground
- 2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, plus a pinch more for garnish
Instructions:
- Heat the garlic oil in a lidded frying pan or casserole large enough to hold the chicken breasts snugly. Stir in the spring onions, then sprinkle in the freeze-dried tarragon and cook for a minute in the garlic oil, stirring frequently.
- Cook for 5 minutes with the curved side of the chicken fillets in the pan. If the spring onions begin to burn, remove them from the pan and place them on top of the chicken.
- Turn the breasts over and pour in the vermouth (or white wine). Allow the vermouth to bubble before adding the salt. Put on the lid, reduce the heat to low, and leave it to simmer for 10 minutes. Make a small cut into the thickest part of the chicken to ensure the juices run clear – if not, simmer for a few minutes longer and check again.
- Transfer the chicken breasts to plates that have been warmed. Bring the remaining liquid to a boil, then add the cream and stir well. Sprinkle in the fresh tarragon, stir again, and season with white pepper to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts and garnish with tarragon before serving.
What does Tarragon Chicken Taste Like?
Tarragon’s pungent, bittersweet flavor is frequently compared to licorice, anise, and fennel due to the presence of methyl chavicol, a naturally occurring compound found in many plants and trees that has a distinct licorice-like taste and fragrance.
Tarragon is a leafy green herb with a subtle licorice flavor that is highly aromatic. It imparts a fresh, spring flavor and a touch of elegance to a wide range of recipes, including salad dressings, sauces, and fish and chicken dishes, and is widely used in French cooking. Tarragon is one of those herbs that people either love or despise, depending on whether they prefer the flavor of licorice or not.
However, this herb has a complex flavor that adds more to the palate than just anise. It has a bittersweet flavor with hints of vanilla, mint, pepper, and eucalyptus, which sets it apart from other licorice-flavored foods like fennel.
However, the French variety is mild, combining these opposing flavors to create an elegant and delicate herb, fresh basil like tarragon, basil is bright green and herbaceous with a faint anise or licorice flavor on the finish. You can substitute it 1:1; just make sure to thinly slice the basil to replicate the thin tarragon leaves.
Can We Freeze Tarragon Chicken?
Yes, leftovers should be cooled quickly, covered, and frozen. Tarragon Chicken cooks skinless, boneless chicken breasts in a pan fry and poach method. The chicken is browned in the pan, then a little vermouth or white wine is added and the chicken cooks in this liquid before finishing with a little cream to enrich the sauce.
We would avoid freezing the cream sauce because it will have a grainy, unpleasant texture when it thaws. You can separate the chicken and freeze the meat separately. Allow cooling before freezing in airtight containers for up to 2 months. Thaw completely in the fridge before reheating in the microwave.
Because the dish is so quick to prepare (about 20 minutes), we’re not sure it benefits from freezing, especially since you’ll need to thaw it overnight in the fridge before gently reheating it in a saucepan, which will probably take 15-20 minutes to ensure that the chicken is piping hot all the way through.
You can reheat it faster in the microwave, but it can be difficult to reheat the chicken without drying it out or overcooking it to a rubbery texture. As a result, we would not recommend freezing this dish for a special occasion in general. Please keep in mind that cream sauces can occasionally split when frozen but usually come back together when reheated. Complete the recipe, but leave out the tarragon. Allow cooling before transferring to a freezer-safe container or bag and freezing for up to 1 month. To serve, defrost in the refrigerator and reheat in a pan until hot.
Is Tarragon Beneficial to Digestion?
The above-ground parts of the tarragon plant are used to make medicine. Tarragon is used to treat digestive issues, poor appetite, water retention, and toothache, as well as to induce menstruation and promote sleep. Because tarragon has antibacterial properties, it may help prevent the growth of bad bacteria in the gut, which can cause stomach upset and diarrhea. Tarragon is a natural diuretic that can help with water retention. Tarragon has numerous health benefits, including the ability to lower blood sugar, inflammation, and pain, as well as improve sleep, appetite, and heart health. Tarragon contains a lot of potassium
Not to mention that it’s versatile and can be used in a variety of dishes, whether fresh or dried. It also contains ingredients that appear to be capable of combating certain bacteria. Due to its potential to aid in the liver’s generation of bile, tarragon may also be an excellent digestive aid. Fats must be broken down and absorbed for bile to function properly. Bile also aids in the body’s waste-removal process. Tarragon may also be beneficial to digestion because it aids in the production of bile by the liver. Bile is necessary for fat breakdown and absorption. Bile also aids in the removal of waste from the body.
How do Tarragon and French Tarragon Differ from One Another?
The Best Tarragon is thought to be French since it has a more delicate flavor than Russian tarragon, which has a stronger flavor. Russian tarragon and French tarragon, both members of the Asteraceae (daisy) family, are the two varieties of tarragon. Additionally offered is dried tarragon. Russian plants have smoother, glossier, darker, and more aromatic and flavorful leaves than French plants.
The French word estragon, which means “small dragon” and is derived from the Arabic word tarkhun, is the source of the English word tarragon. The authentic culinary tarragon is distinguished by the tingle on the tongue and the anise flavor. Make sure the roots are linked to green shoots if you receive divisions of an older plant from someone. Make sure plants in the 4-inch pots you buy for tarragon have at least three green shoots.
Conclusion
It’s a French Provencal dish that’s healthy, hearty, aromatic, and, of course, delicious. Chicken meat (commonly referred to simply as “chicken”) and chicken eggs have become common in many cuisines due to the relative ease and low cost of raising chickens in comparison to mammals such as cattle or hogs. Chicken meat is suitable for quick and simple preparation.
It also offers a variety of combinations with different foodstuffs, making it a popular choice among consumers living in modern times. When all of these ingredients come together in this exquisite dish, warm, nostalgic, and oh-so-good, you know this is going to be good. Cream and white wine is a combination no French restaurant would be without, and it’s a classic pairing like Tarragon and Chicken.
