The Broad Palate – Oct ’24

Tarragon Chicken – serves 4

This dish works at this time of year as it’s not too heavy, yet still warm and comforting. Serve with tagliatelle or mash, plus seasonal greens of choice.

4 medium chicken breasts;
1 tablespoon olive oil;
25g butter;
2-3 cloves of garlic, grated;
1 medium onion, finely chopped;
100ml white wine (or water);
150ml double cream (I use Elmlea);
350ml chicken stock (from a cube); 1 pack tarragon (leaves only, chopped) or 2 tablespoons dried;
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard;
finely grated zest of 1 lemon;
1-2 teaspoons sugar;
salt and black pepper;
1.5 tablespoons cornflour.

Method:

Slice through each chicken breast horizontally so that you have eight fillets. Season lightly with salt.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and then add the olive oil. Fry the fillets in 2 batches until lightly browned and set aside.
Add the butter to the pan and fry the onion until softened but not browned (around 10 minutes – this always takes longer than expected!) then add the garlic for another minute.
Add the wine and let it bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, scraping all the flavourful bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add the stock, mustard, lemon zest, sugar and most of the tarragon.
Return the chicken to the pan, cover and allow to bubble gently for 10 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Remove the chicken and keep warm.
Add the cream to the pan. Then mix the cornflour with a little water to make a thin paste, add to the sauce and keep simmering, stirring for about 3 minutes until thickened.
Season to taste with the salt and black pepper, then nestle the chicken fillets in the sauce and reheat gently.
Sprinkle with remaining tarragon (if using fresh. If using dried, parsley is fine). Serve immediately.

Pear and Ginger Upside Down Cake

4 ripe seasonal pears, peeled, cored and quartered (or use 1.5 cans of pears);
4 balls of stem ginger from a jar, chopped (optional);
160g butter, softened (plus extra for greasing);
160g light soft brown sugar; 135g self raising flour;
1 tsp baking powder;
2 teaspoons ground ginger;
1 teaspoon cinnamon;
1 pinch allspice (optional);
3 medium eggs

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line the bottom.
Mix 25g each of the butter and sugar and spread over bottom of tin.
Slice each pear quarter in half and arrange in tin.
Sprinkle with a third of the stem ginger.
Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add all remaining ingredients and beat well until combined.
Turn into tin and level top, taking care not to disturb the pears.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes then carefully turn out onto a plate.
Drizzle with some of the stem ginger syrup if desired.

Our thanks to Ann Shaw 🙂