tarragon | Mommie Cooks!

Lobster Bisque

November 8, 2011 By Julie 9 Comments

Lobster is one of those indulgences that never loses steam with me. I will always remember Christmas Eve dinners as a child where the standard holiday fare was steak and crustacean. Normally my dad would buy the tails and cook them up as they were, but one year he decided to try and boil whole live lobsters. Being the animal lover that I was, I found this a bit perturbing that we were going to kill a living creature for our dinner just a short time later. I couldn’t bear to watch the moment my friend became my meal. Of course, once he transformed into that familiar red shell with the rich white meat nestled inside, all was forgotten and dinner resumed.

Fast forward about 20 years and here I sit again with a live lobster, chilling on my kitchen island, claws rubber banded, looking at me as though he thinks that if he can just bat his eyes a bit longer, I’ll relent and make a drive to the beach for a movie inspired freedom release instead of a three step walk to my pot rack. I eye him carefully, thinking about what I’m about to attempt and hoping it won’t be as difficult as it feels. I think about the lobster bisque reward at the end and it keeps me moving forward.

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Chicken Cordon Bleu with Mushroom Sauce

April 13, 2011 By Julie 30 Comments

The voting over at the Rice Krispies Facebook page is officially up and running! If you have a minute head over and cast a vote for Team Asheville’s entries. We’re the top four pictures listed. Thanks so much and I’ll let you know the results as soon as they’re announced.

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Cordon Bleu is one of those dishes that instantly takes me back to my childhood days. My family spent all their vacations up in Northern Wisconsin at my grandparents cottage on Rest Lake. We enjoyed summers frolicking in the water and digging never-ending holes to China, and winters planting our tip-ups on the iced over lake in the hopes of catching that one lucky fish. I still remember venturing out on the boat one warm summer morning with my grandfather on a hunt for muskies; one of the biggest and baddest lake fish there is, and the exact moment that one actually started to follow my line towards the boat. I began to reel faster and faster; there was no way I was going to let that fish actually catch my line!

When we arrived home from our fishing expedition, my grandmother had put together a lunch for us of cordon bleu with mushroom sauce. She was a big fan of the Schwan man (still is) and would always have a pack of their cordon bleu on hand. Oh how I loved those chicken filled treats. I used to look forward to visiting my grandma Mimi just so I could get my hands on one of them.

Today my grandmother lives in Arizona and we don’t get out to visit her and my grandfather nearly as much as we’d like. My grandfather’s 87th birthday was a few weeks back and it reminded me of those younger times up at the cottage. This dish is a way to bring back those cherished moments and to say thank you to my grandparents for all the wonderful memories and love they continue to pour over me to this day.

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Roasted Lemon Tarragon Chicken

April 23, 2010 By Julie 18 Comments

*Yawn* And a happy Friday to you all. I’m amazed I’m even working on the blog today considering I was out until all hours of the night with my good friend Bon Jovi last night. Yea that’s right. I was rocking out to a little “It’s my life”, “Livin’ on a Prayer”, and “Runaway” of which the latter is still stuck in my head and won’t leave me alone.

A rather large group of my neighbors went together and we all chipped in to rent a really large, really raucous, really black party bus. I haven’t had an experience like that since college. I’m exhausted, I’m tired, and I’m in dire need of a nap, but all that being said, (did I mention I could go to sleep right now and not wake up until the next morning? I’m such an old lady.) it was definitely an experience that was worth the next day hangover that has accompanied it.

Anyway, I’m not here to wax poetic about my love affair with Bon Jovi (ok, well maybe I am just a little bit), I’m here to help you make an amazing lemon tarragon chicken, so we might as well get on with it. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Whole Chicken
1/4 Cup of White Wine
2 Tbsp of Butter
The Juice of One Lemon plus the lemon carcasses
1 Large Bunch of Fresh Tarragon
1 Small Bunch of Fresh Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 Tbsp of Olive Oil

The first thing you’ll want to do is cut up your butter into 6-8 small chunks. Then you’ll slide them under the skin on the top and bottom. Make sure to spread them out around the bird so that the butter can cover all the meat. He should look like he just mutated and might sprout an extra wing at any moment. Or maybe that’s just the way I see it when looking at this picture of my bird with his butter bumps.

Next you’ll place the bird in a baking pan and drizzle the olive oil over the outside of him (or her as the case may be). Pour your wine over and finally squeeze your lemon on the top. Stick the used lemon carcasses inside the cavity of your bird. Now salt and pepper on the top and bottom. Chop up about half of your fresh tarragon and put it on top of your bird. Take the other half of the tarragon stems and stuff them into the cavity along with the lemons. Chop up a small handful of parsley and throw that on top as well. Green is good, right? Now he’s ready for the oven. Doesn’t it look delicious already?!

Throw the bird in your oven heated to 375 degrees covered. Cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken, but for me I cooked him covered with foil for 1 hour and 20 minutes and then uncovered him for another 30 minutes to get his skin nice and golden, basting once in the last 30 minutes. Your internal temperature should be 180 degrees, so I recommend sticking a meat thermometer in when you uncover him to know for sure when it’s finished. In case you’re not sure where to stick it, a meat thermometer should be stuck right between the thigh and the body where it attaches. That’s the deepest area and the last place to be cooked through.

And, are you ready for this? Here is the finished product:

If that’s not one of the most beautiful pieces of meat you’ve ever seen, I don’t know what is. It takes some time to make this dish, but let me tell ya, it’s worth the effort. The chicken was fall off the bone yummy, and we even had enough left to make loaded burritos the next night (yes, I will post that recipe in the upcoming days).

So in the words of my man Bon Jovi, It’s your life, it’s now or never. Make the chicken man!!

Roasted Lemon Tarragon Chicken

Yield: 1 4-6pd Roasted Chicken

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Butter
1 4-6pd Whole Chicken
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Cup White Wine
1 Lemon, Juiced (plus the carcasses for stuffing)
1 Bunch Fresh Tarragon
1 Bunch Fresh Parsley
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

Cut up the butter into 6-8 small chunks and slide them under the skin of the chicken on the top and bottom. Make sure to spread around the bird so that the butter can cover all the meat.

Place the bird in a baking pan and drizzle the olive oil over the outside.

Pour the wine over and finally squeeze your lemon on the top.

Stick the used lemon carcasses inside the cavity of your bird.

Salt and pepper on the top and bottom.

Chop up about half the fresh tarragon and sprinkle it over the bird.

Take the other half of the tarragon stems and stuff them into the cavity along with the squeezed lemons. Chop up a small handful of parsley and throw that on top as well stuffing the remaining stems into the bird with the tarragon.

Slide the bird into an oven heated to 375 degrees covered with foil. Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees and top turns a crispy golden brown. If the top of your chicken is looking too dark, simply re-tent the chicken with the foil until the desired temperature is achieved.