Buttermilk chicken with tarragon sauce and potatoes
Buttermilk and chicken are one of those combinations where magic happens. The buttermilk keeps the chicken beautifully tender while adding just the right amount of acidity. So I thought about how I could create a dish where the oven does most of the work.
Ingredients · Servings 4
- 4 chicken drumsticks (with bone)
- 750 ml buttermilk
- 500g triplet
- 15g Tarragon
- 2 EL Sherryessig
- 1.5 tsp grainy mustard
- 2.5 TL Maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple juice
- 1.5 tsp cornstarch
- 0.5 lemon
- 4 shallots
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 50g Gherkins
- 10 g parsley
- Olive oil for frying
- Salt
- Pfeffer
Method · 1 h
- Rub the chicken generously with salt on all sides and place it in a freezer bag or a Tupperware container. Add some of the buttermilk and marinate for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight. For the sauce, peel and finely chop the garlic. Cut the shallots into wedges. Slice the lemon thinly. Pluck the tarragon leaves from the stems. Finely chop the gherkins and parsley, mix them together, and set aside. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water for about 10–15 minutes.
- Heat a little olive oil in a high-sided, ovenproof skillet and sear the chicken thighs over high heat for about 3–5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the skillet. If needed, add a little more olive oil to the skillet and sauté the shallots and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, deglaze with vinegar, add the buttermilk, and bring to a boil (the buttermilk will curdle, this is normal). Stir in the mustard, maple syrup, and tarragon, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Mix the apple juice with the cornstarch and add it to the sauce. Simmer for another 2 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.
- Slice the pre-cooked potatoes and arrange them on top of the sauce in the pan. Place lemon slices on top and then arrange the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes. Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 35–40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the gherkin and parsley mixture and serve immediately.
