For a summer supper for 4, Delia Smith’s tarragon chicken simmers a jointed bird with whole shallots and garlic in sherry vinegar and Amontillado, uncovered, for 45 minutes. The sauce cooks down until it’s glossy, and a spoonful of crème fraîche finishes it.
Her Summer Collection (1993) is where it first appeared, as her own take on the French poulet au vinaigre, and the card follows that printing. She suggests serving a well-chilled fino first, as an aperitif.
The Delia Collection: Chicken (2003) printed it again in its summer chapter, with a slightly smaller 1.6kg bird and part-boned breasts as the alternative. The method and the other amounts stay the same, and the same book’s spring chapter has her fast-roast chicken with lemon and tarragon for a whole bird.
Expect browned chicken in a dark, sweet-sharp sauce, with soft whole shallots and mellow garlic cloves that squash into it, and the aniseed lift of tarragon over the top.
Delia Smith’s Chicken with Sherry Vinegar and Tarragon Sauce
Course: DinnerCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes1
hour5
minutes890
kcalJointed chicken browned, then simmered without a lid in sherry vinegar and medium-dry sherry with shallots, garlic and tarragon leaves, for 4.
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
1 chicken of 1.75kg (3½lb), jointed into 8 pieces, or 4 bone-in chicken breast portions
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
4 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
150ml (5fl oz) good-quality sherry vinegar
425ml (15fl oz) medium-dry Amontillado sherry
1 heaped tablespoon crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To garnish:
8 small sprigs of tarragon
Directions
- Brown the chicken: Heat the oil in a large, roomy frying pan about 23cm across and season the chicken joints with salt and pepper. When the oil shimmers, brown the chicken in two batches until every piece is golden brown, moving the first batch to a plate while you do the second.
- Shallots and garlic: Put the shallots in the pan and let them brown a little, then add the garlic cloves and give them a little colour too.
- Add the liquid: Turn the heat down, return all the chicken to the pan and scatter the tarragon leaves over it. Pour in the vinegar and sherry and let it simmer for a moment.
- Simmer: Turn the heat to its lowest so it barely bubbles, without a lid, for 45 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces over halfway so the other side sits in the sauce.
- Finish: Lift the chicken, shallots and garlic on to a warm serving dish, right side up. Whisk the crème fraîche into the reduced sauce, taste and season, then pour it over and scatter with the tarragon sprigs.
- Serve: Tiny new potatoes tossed in herbs and some shelled peas go well alongside.
Notes
- Peeling 12 shallots is the slowest job here. I'd soak them in just-boiled water for a minute so the skins loosen, which is my own trick.
- At the end of the 45 minutes, test the thickest piece by the bone. The juices should run clear, or a probe should read 75°C, which is my own check.
FAQs
Which sherry and vinegar should I buy?
A good-quality sherry vinegar and a medium-dry Amontillado, as on the card. To my mind the Amontillado matters most, because its nutty sweetness balances the sharp vinegar as both reduce.
Her guide to cooking with alcohol notes that fortified wines all keep well once opened if they’re sealed properly. The rest of the sherry vinegar suits her vinaigrette with balsamic and sherry vinegar.
Can I use breasts or thighs instead?
Breasts, yes. The Summer Collection offers 4 bone-in breast portions in place of the whole jointed bird, and the 2003 printing says part-boned breasts.
Thighs are my own swap. I’d use 8 bone-in thighs with the skin on and keep the same 45 minutes, as they stay moist in the sauce.
What if the sauce is still thin?
She cooks it without a lid for a reason, so the vinegar and sherry reduce to a thick, concentrated sauce while the chicken simmers.
If yours is still thin after 45 minutes, lift the chicken out as the card says and let the sauce bubble for a few minutes on its own before the crème fraîche goes in, which is my own fix.
What can I use instead of Amontillado?
Another medium-dry sherry is the nearest match, which is my own swap. A dry Sercial Madeira would also work, and it’s one of the fortified wines she says she reaches for most often.
A dry fino on its own would make the sauce sharper, as the vinegar then has less sweetness to balance it, to my mind.
Which of her recipes pair tarragon with grapes?
Her Roast Chicken with Grape and Herb Stuffing, from that same 2003 chicken book. Halved grapes, parsley, 2 teaspoons of chopped tarragon, onion, garlic and breadcrumbs go under the breast skin of a 1.8kg chicken, which roasts at 190°C for about 1 hour 20 minutes.
She warns not to overfill the pocket or the skin will burst. It’s her summer Sunday lunch, served with broad beans and buttered new potatoes.
