Chicken with Sherry Vinegar and Tarragon Sauce

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Serves: 4

This meal is great for dinner parties or cosy nights in. Naturally low in fat and salt, yet utterly delicious with fragrant fresh tarragon.

Choose British chicken with the Red Tractor and Union Jack on pack and you’ll know that you’re getting fresh, local birds that are fully traceable back to independently inspected British farms. Or ask your butcher if it’s British.

Ingredients

1 x 1.75kg British chicken (jointed into 8 pieces, or 4 bone-in chicken breast portions)
150ml sherry vinegar
2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
6 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
425 ml dry sherry
1 heaped tbsp low fat natural yoghurt
Pinch of salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and season the chicken joints with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Fry the chicken, on a medium heat, in two batches, as this will mean you can get them to brown nicely, then place on a plate. The chicken should be golden brown coloured, but not cooked through.

2. Put the shallots into the frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes. When they are soft and lightly golden brown add the garlic and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes until it has softened slightly.

3. Turn the heat down, return the chicken pieces to the pan, sprinkle over the tarragon leaves and pour in the vinegar and sherry. Stir lightly so that all the flavours blend, and then turn the heat right down and simmer very gently for about 25 minutes.

4. Turn over the chicken pieces, so that they cook evenly, and allow to simmer for another 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, place a serving dish big enough for all the chicken and sauce in a low oven (140°C / 275°C / Gas Mark 1) to warm through. Take the cooked chicken, garlic and onions out of the frying pan, leaving the sauce behind and place on the warmed plate. Finish off the dish by stirring the yoghurt into the remaining sauce in the pan. Check the seasoning before pouring over the chicken.

6. Sprinkle any spare tarragon leaves on top as a garnish before serving with jacket potatoes, rice, couscous or pasta.

Nutritional Information   Per Serving Per 100g Calories 654 kcal 98 kcal Protein 99.9 g 15 g Carbohydrates 5.6 g 0.8 g Fat 12.3 g 1.8 g Saturated Fat 3.1 g 0.5 g