Tarragon & mustard roasted free-range chicken

Tarragon & mustard roasted free-range chicken

A succulent chicken roast, full of herby flavour - the mustard adds a great new taste

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in about 2 hours

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Put the tarragon stalks, vegetables, olive oil and garlic in a heavy roasting tin. Place on a high heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to brown.
  2. While the vegetables are cooking, remove any string from the chickens, sprinkle the cavities with salt and pepper and stuff the lemon quarters inside.
  3. Lay the chickens, breast-side down, on top of the veg. Season with salt and pepper, scatter over half the chopped tarragon leaves, then drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp mustard with the remaining chopped tarragon leaves.
  4. Remove the roasting tin from the oven, turn the chickens over and spread with the mustard mixture. Return the chickens to the oven and roast for a further 40 minutes or until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced with a skewer.
  5. Remove the chickens to a dish or 2 large plates and cover each one with an upturned bowl. Skim any excess fat from the roasting tin. Place the tin on a high heat, pour in the wine, and boil for 8-10 minutes until the wine has almost completely reduced. Now pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then simmer for 5-7 minutes until reduced by half. Stir in 1 tsp mustard, season to taste and strain into a gravy boat.

Tarragon and mustard roasted free-range chicken

583 kcalories, protein 61g, carbohydrate 1g, fat 32 g, saturated fat 10g, fibre 0g, salt 0.93 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2004.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 04 February 2008

    Gaby commented on this recipe

    This was very good a completely different taste experience with the flavourful, vegetable infused red wine gravy. Fresh tarragon was not available, so I used freeze dried and also what vegs I had in. Onion carrot swede and celery. It was perfectly cooked in the time suggested. It will certainly be cooked again.

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  • 27 May 2008

    lotsie rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I also used dried tarragon and it was fine, the only problem was the onions blackened leaving a bitter taste so i added some tinned tomatoes and a splash of brown sauce. The taste of the gravy and chicken was lovely, i shall definitely make this again.

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  • 30 May 2008

    Gandalf commented on this recipe

    Sounds tasteful hoping to cook it his weekend. Will post comment Thanks

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  • 14 April 2009

    mamaclark rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I cooked this for 14 people on Easter Sunday, increasing the ingredients--absolutely fabulous-the flavour and moistness of the chicken was lovely. Next time I think I will chop the veg slightly smaller to make the handling a little easier when making the gravy. Great! I served it with Boulangere Potato and Pea,Asparagus and Spinach dish.

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  • 22 April 2009

    Mich rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fab recipe, couldn't get fennel so used swede and turnip for a change which worked very well. Added more veg as suggested and lucky that none burnt. The chicken was so incredibly moist and the gravy was delicious too, I liked that everything was in the pan and easy to pull together at the end. Would highly recommend the recipe, especially with the parsnip, potato, onion and St Gall gratin (had to use swiss instead). Enjoy cooking!

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in about 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 large bunch tarragon , leaves chopped and stalks reserved
  • 2 large onions , cut into large chunks
  • 2 large carrots , cut into large chunks
  • 3 sticks celery , roughly chopped
  • 1 head fennel , roughly chopped
  • 100ml olive oil , plus more for drizzling
  • 1 garlic head, roughly chopped (skin and all)
  • 2 x 1½kg free-range chicken
  • 1 lemon , quartered
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard , plus 1 extra tsp
  • ½ bottle hearty red wine
  • 500ml chicken or vegetable stock
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Tarragon and mustard roasted free-range chicken

583 kcalories, protein 61g, carbohydrate 1g, fat 32 g, saturated fat 10g, fibre 0g, salt 0.93 g

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