Roast Chicken with Tarragon Béarnaise Sauce
I love the aroma of baked tarragon and lemon with chicken. This recipe makes the most perfect succulent and moist roast chicken, I guarantee there will be no left overs! Nothing better than to serve it with a creamy Tarragon Béarnaise Sauce and your choice of sides.
Roast Chicken
+ 1 whole chicken, I used 1.8kg
+ 100 gm butter, room temperature
+ 1/2 bulb of garlic
+ 5 extra garlic cloves skin on, lightly bashed
+ 4 small onions, halved
+ 2 lemons, halved
+ 1/2 bunch Tarragon
+ 1 rasher of
+ Salt
+ white pepper
Tarragon Béarnaise Sauce
+ 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
+ 2 tablespoons dry white wine
+ 1 tablespoon water
+ 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
+ 1 tablespoon tarragon, leaves only and finely chopped
+ 3 egg yolks
+ 1/2 cup diced unsalted butter, room temperature
+ Salt
Roast Chicken
1. Pre heat oven to 250c.
2. Place half the lemon, bacon, tarragon and garlic in chicken carcass.
3. Slide your hands underneath the chicken skin and rub with butter and around the whole chicken. Season chicken well with salt and pepper.
4. In a baking try lined with foil place chicken in the centre and place onions, lightly bashed garlic cloves and remainder of lemon around the chicken.
5. Place chicken in oven cook for 20 minutes on 250c, turn down the heat to 180 for 50 minutes then turn the heat back up to 200c for 15 minutes. This timing was perfect for my oven and for a 1.8kg chicken. The best way to check the doneness of chicken is by pricing the inside of the leg (dark meat takes longer to cook), if it runs out bloody you will need to cook it for longer.
6. Rest for at least 15 – 20 minutes.
Tarragon Béarnaise Sauce
1. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, white wine, 1/2 tablespoon tarragon and white pepper on medium heat. Reduce this down until you have around 1 tablespoon of the mixture left over (this should be fairly quick around 5 minutes depending on your stove).
2. Turn the heat to low and with a whisk (I used an electric whisk, you can use a non electric but it will take longer) place 1 egg yolk into the mixture and whisk on medium speed to combine for 2 minutes, repeat this process with the remainder egg yolks.
3. Take off heat and add water, whisk on high speed to combine for 2 minutes, you don’t want the egg yolks to over cook on the stove but you want the mixture to be thick, pale and foamy.
4. Place the saucepan back on the stove on low heat and place 1 cube of butter at a time, whisking after each cube making sure you take it off the heat for 30 seconds every now and then (the amount of butter is up to you depending on the consistency you are looking for).
5. Mix the remainder tarragon and season salt and white pepper.
