{"id":1642,"date":"2013-08-09T09:30:01","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2013-08-09T09:30:01","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T16:30:01","slug":"fast-and-easy-tarragon-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/?p=1642","title":{"rendered":"Fast and Easy Tarragon Chicken"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Easy<\/a><\/p>\n

My friend\u2019s son, who will be off to college this fall, made a request for a simple recipe that he can cook easily in his dorm kitchen. This was his chant to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo more than four ingredients, Auntie Mira, and I mean salt already counts as one.\u201d (This is tough, but not too tough.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd not one of your elaborate, two-to-three-hour deals.\u201d (You seemed to enjoy them a great deal.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be cooking in a \u2018dormitory kitchen\u2019, you know. They have less equipment than my mom\u2019s pantry, or your garage. A one or two burner electric stove, a microwave, a sink, that\u2019s it. Do you understand?\u201d (Oh, great to know this, kiddo!)<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably won\u2019t have a variety of pots or pans, either. In fact, I probably have to bring my own. No spatula either.\u201d (After all these manners your mother taught you over the years, you are going to end up eating with your hands, like your daddy\u2026oh Lord!)<\/p>\n

\u201cI can always invite a girl to my dorm kitchen.\u201d He was so excited! (Wait until you know that girls don\u2019t normally go to the boy\u2019s dormitory unless it\u2019s right after the big cleaning day.)<\/p>\n

\u201cNot anything from a jar that you or mom made for me\u2014I can\u2019t impress a girl with s**t from jars\u2014you guys KNOW that!\u201d (Agree, kiddo! \u201cPie\u201d in the TV show \u201cRay Donovan\u201d also confirmed this principle!)<\/p>\n

So I dedicate this recipe to all the college dudes and anyone who wants a simple but delicious meal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s beyond simple. It\u2019s failure-free and it will look like you know s*** you don\u2019t! Hopefully, boys, you can impress girls with this recipe, but to get pussy with chicken is quite far-fetched. I would suggest waiting three more years and using real alcohol to assist. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/b> (for two)<\/p>\n

Chicken breast, with bones in and skin on\u00a0 1 piece<\/p>\n

Salt \u00a0approximately\u00a0 1 tablespoon<\/p>\n

Tarragon leaves, 1 bunch (You can substitute the tarragon with basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, cilantro, green onions (scallions), onions, shallots or garlic.<\/p>\n

Butter\u00a0 1-2 tablespoons (Also you can replace the butter with olive oil or vegetable oil, or even mix them together, but you know butter would give the best taste, right?)<\/p>\n

\"As<\/a>

As promised, kiddo, only four ingredients!<\/p><\/div>\n

Method\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

1) WASH the chicken and the tarragon leaves. (Not in the tub together!)<\/p>\n

2) RUB the chicken breast with the salt, all over every side and under the skin, wherever your finger can go. Rub it throughly. (This is sounding like a porno film.) Spend some time with the rubbing. At least THIS is a breast you can really fondle however you like without risking a slap in the face or a kick in your nuts.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The chicken already got a full spa treatment, including bath and salt rub.<\/p><\/div>\n

3) Melt the butter in a pot that has a lid cover over medium high heat. You could use a pan if your pan has a lid and, after you place the chicken in it, you can still close the lid tight.<\/p>\n

\"Melt<\/a>

Melt butter over medium high heat.<\/p><\/div>\n

4) Put the chicken in the pot, skin side down, and cook until the skin is brown and crispy, approximately 3-5 minutes, depending on your stove and your pot material. Cast iron with a high-heat gas stove (which usually yields the best result) would take about 3 minutes.<\/p>\n

While you’re waiting for the chicken to be cooked, tear the tarragon into pieces, and take the stems off. If you have a knife, you can chop it.<\/p>\n

\"Put<\/a>

Put the chicken in, skin-side down first, and cook until the skin is crispy and slightly brown.<\/p><\/div>\n

5) Flip the chicken piece so the bone side is down and the crispy skin side is up.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The skin should be crispy and nicely golden, like this, before you flip it.<\/p><\/div>\n

6) Put the herbs on top of the crispy skin and close the lid. Continue to cook over the medium high heat for another 2-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and LEAVE THE POT ON THE STOVE WITH THE LID ON for another 20-30 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Pile<\/a>

Pile torn or chopped tarragon on top and close the lid. This is the last picture before the lid went on.<\/p><\/div>\n

The chicken will continue to cook from the heat inside the pot, the leftover heat from the stove, and the heat in the chicken itself from the fire earlier.<\/p>\n

The cooking time varies depending on many factors. I recommend a rehearsal before showing off to a girl so you would know the exact time for your particular pot and stove.<\/p>\n

While you wait, I would recommend guarding your pot or the contents might disappear. Dormitory ghosts are quite hungry and shamelessly take unattended food on a regular basis. Some of them even take the pot!<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This is the finished breast.<\/p><\/div>\n

7) After the waiting period is over, use a fork or a knife to pierce the side of the chicken piece and see the juice that runs out. If it runs clear, no pinkish color, you are good. If it is pink, put it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. This also means you need to increase the initial cooking time next time around.<\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t I cook the chicken until it\u2019s cooked through before turning off the heat? Well, technically, you could do that. All you have to do is to reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, but the result will be a drier chicken. I like my chicken juicy and this is the way to keep the chicken juice inside the piece. Try it once and you will understand.<\/p>\n

I actually slightly overcooked my chicken here. With my enamel cast iron pot, I should cook the bone side for two minutes and then leave it for only 20 minutes. I let it sit for 30, but it\u2019s okay. As I said before, it\u2019s a failure-free meal. Overcooked chicken is still delicious and when cooking it with this method there\u2019s no way of burning it.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I actually prefer chicken cooked slightly less than this. The flesh should have a trace of pink left (just a little) and be more tender, but this is still juicy and delicious.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you don\u2019t eat the skin, peel it off (I\u2019m sure your roommate or dorm mate would be happy to eliminate it for you.) Cooking with the skin and bone make the chicken meat taste better.<\/p>\n

\"Showing<\/a>

Showing off!<\/p><\/div>\n

Good luck! Text me the pic of the chick \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

I’m in Vancouver this week for a wedding ceremony, 3 days Indian style. I will be exploring Vancouver and of course the food scene here. You can follow me on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0my\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0for unofficial updates of my gourmet investigations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend\u2019s son, who will be off to college this fall, made a request for a simple recipe that he can cook easily in his dorm kitchen. This was his chant to me. \u201cNo more than four ingredients, Auntie Mira, and I mean salt already counts as one.\u201d (This is tough, but not too tough.) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,28,39,55,9,11,89,16,17,33],"tags":[136,10,12,14,15,194,52,20,284],"class_list":["post-1642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american","category-bake","category-chicken","category-clicking-in-the-kitchen","category-comfort-food","category-dinner","category-french","category-gluten-free","category-lunch","category-roast","tag-american-food","tag-cooking","tag-easy-recipes","tag-food","tag-gluten-free","tag-herbs","tag-new-cuisine","tag-recipe","tag-tarragon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highheelgourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}