Recipe - Roast Chicken With Tarragon

1 3 to 4 lb. chicken
with giblets
Salt & freshly ground pepper
6 ounce Dayold French bread*
1 Garlic clove; peeled
4 Sprigs fresh tarragon
1 cup Fresh tarragon leaves
2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
2 tablespoon Olive oil

*Cut in 1 One half x 1 One half x 1/2" pieces.

Rinse chicken well inside and out until the water runs clear. Pat it
thoroughly dry. Remove as much of the fat from the tail and neck area as
possible. Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper.

Rub the bread on all sides with garlic, and place two of these croutons,
with the tarragon sprigs, inside the chicken.

Carefully separate the skin from the breast meat of the chicken by running
your fingers between the skin and the meat. Rub the meat with salt and
pepper, and place One half cup of the tarragon leaves under the skin, spreading
them out so they cover the entire breast.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a roasting pan over mediumhigh heat. Add
the chicken, and brown it well on all sides, about 8 minutes. Set the
chicken breast side up, transfer the pan to the oven, and roast for 30
minutes at 400 F.

Add the remaining croutons, the neck and the giblets to the pan, and
continue roasting chicken until it is evenly golden all over and the juices
run clear, 12 to 15 minutes. Turn the croutons occasionally so they brown
evenly. Remove the chicken, croutons and giblets from the roasting pan and
transfer them to a platter. Cover loosely with foil and keep warm in a low
(200 F.) oven.

Place the roasting pan, with the cooking juices in it, over mediumhigh
heat. When the juices are hot and bubbling, scrape the browned bits from
the bottom of the pan, add the remaining One half cup tarragon leaves and cook
just until they are wilted, about 1 minute. (You need just enough cooking
juices to wilt the tarragon. If there is no juice at all which can happen
~ add One fourth cup dry white wine to the roasting pan, bring it to a simmer, and
deglaze the pan. Add the tarragon and cook until wilted.) Taste for
seasoning.

To serve, cut the chicken into serving pieces and arrange them, with the
croutons and giblets, on a warmed serving platter. Pour the sauce over the
chicken and serve immediately.

A rich, perfumed Fleurie, such as a Georges Duboeuf 1988 or 1989 goes well
with this.

From _Farm House Cookbook_ by Susan Herrmann Loomis. New York: Workman
Publishing Company, Inc., 1991. Pp. 141142. ISBN 0894807722.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini