Pot-Roast Chicken with Cider and Tarragon

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy lidded casserole or Dutch oven, large enough for a whole chicken
• •Kitchen paper
• •Carving board or warm serving plate

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the chicken

   Set the oven to 180C/160C fan. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper and season it well all over with salt and pepper. Heat the butter and oil in a heavy, lidded casserole over a medium-high heat. When the butter foams and starts to calm, lay the chicken in breast-side down and let it sit. Don't move it. You want a proper golden colour on the skin, which takes four or five minutes. Turn it and brown the other side, then the legs. Lift the chicken out onto a plate.

   A dry bird browns. A wet bird stews. Take the chicken from the fridge twenty minutes before you start, and dry the skin thoroughly. This matters more than any other step.
2. 2

   Cook the bacon and leeks

   Turn the heat to medium. Add the bacon strips to the same pot and let them cook in the buttery chicken fat until the edges crisp and the fat has rendered out. This takes three or four minutes. Don't rush it. When the bacon smells smoky and looks golden, add the leeks and the garlic. Stir everything through the fat and cook gently for five minutes until the leeks soften and go silky. They should look like they're relaxing into the pan. Season lightly.

3. 3

   Add cider and stock

   Pour in the cider. It will hiss and bubble and the smell will change immediately, sharp and cidery and good. Let it boil hard for two minutes, scraping up any golden bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Those bits are flavour. Add the stock, the bay leaves, and half the tarragon (stalks and all). Stir once and let it come back to a simmer.

   Use a proper dry English cider, the sort you'd drink. Nothing sweet, nothing flavoured. The cider is doing the work of wine here and needs that clean, sharp apple character.
4. 4

   Pot-roast the chicken

   Nestle the chicken back into the pot, breast-side up, so the liquid comes partway up the legs. Put the lid on and slide it into the oven. Leave it alone for an hour and a quarter. No peeking, no basting, no anxiety. The lid traps the heat and the liquid keeps everything moist. The kitchen will start to smell extraordinary after about forty minutes. Trust the process.

   If your lid doesn't fit tightly, lay a sheet of foil over the pot before pressing the lid on. You want a good seal to keep the moisture in.
5. 5

   Check the bird

   After an hour and a quarter, lift the lid. The chicken should be golden on top and the meat tender enough that a leg pulls away easily from the body. Pierce the thigh at its thickest point: if the juices run clear, it's done. If they're still pink, give it another fifteen minutes with the lid off. Lift the chicken onto a warm plate or board and cover loosely with foil. Let it rest while you finish the sauce.

6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Set the pot over a medium heat on the hob. Fish out the bay leaves and the spent tarragon stalks. Let the liquid bubble for five or six minutes until it reduces by about a third and the flavour concentrates. It should taste cidery and savoury, with a gentle smokiness from the bacon. Stir in the crème fraîche and the mustard. The sauce will turn slightly creamy, not thick, just enriched. Taste it. Season again if it needs it. Chop the remaining tarragon leaves and stir most of them through the sauce. The anise scent will bloom the moment the herb hits the warmth.

7. 7

   Carve and serve

   You can carve the chicken properly or, better, just pull it apart with two forks. It should be that tender. Return the meat to the pot, letting it settle into the sauce and the leeks and the bacon. Scatter the last of the tarragon over the top. Bring the pot to the table with bread or mashed potatoes, something to catch the sauce. Spoon it onto warm plates. This is the kind of meal that makes people go quiet for a moment, which is the best compliment any cook can receive.

Chef Tips

• •Get the best chicken you can. A free-range bird with a bit of fat on it will repay you twice over in this kind of cooking, where the meat braises slowly and the flavour of the bird itself matters enormously. A tired chicken makes a tired pot-roast. There's no sauce in the world that fixes that.
• •Tarragon is the herb that belongs here and nothing else will do the same job. It has a soft, anise warmth that meets the cider halfway. If you can't find it fresh, this isn't the week for this recipe. Make something else and come back when you can.
• •The sauce should coat the back of a spoon but still feel light, more brothy than thick. If it looks too thin, let it reduce a little longer. If it's too thick, add a splash of stock. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract.
• •This reheats beautifully. The second day, the tarragon has settled deeper into the sauce and the chicken has absorbed more of the cider. Some meals improve with a night in the fridge. I wrote it down in the notebook: "Better on Monday."

Advance Preparation

• •The whole dish can be made a day ahead and refrigerated in the pot. Reheat gently on the hob or in a low oven with the lid on. Add the final scattering of fresh tarragon just before serving.
• •The chicken and sauce can be frozen (off the bone, in the sauce) for up to two months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat thoroughly. The tarragon holds up surprisingly well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)