Day 25: Jerry Traunfeld's Tarragon Chicken Breasts with Buttery Leeks, Wine-Braised Carrots with Fried Sage Leaves, and Rustic Jam Shortbread Tart

I have a little more free time this week, so I am making a lot of food to get ahead of myself for when we go on our road trip next week and I don't cook anything....

Jerry Traunfeld's Tarragon Chicken Breasts in Buttery Leeks
Wine-Braised Carrots with Fried Sage Leaves
Rustic Jam Shortbread Tart

I have no idea who Jerry is, they just mention he is a chef, I am not sure from where, but he does know what he is doing!

Disclaimer: I made this with organic chicken thighs because I think they taste delicious and they are about 1/3rd the price of chicken breasts. I skinned them, but left the bone in.

This is a nice, aromatic entree. Thin slice a leek or two and and place in a large skillet with a couple tablespoons of butter and 2 cups of chicken broth. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 8-10 minutes, letting the broth cook down a little. Sprinkle your chicken with salt and pepper (they called for 4 boneless, skinless, organic breasts) and place them in the leek mixture, spooning some of the leeks onto them. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until breasts are done, 10-15 minutes. My bone-in thighs took about 15 minutes.

Transfer your cooked chicken to a plate. I covered mine and set in the oven to keep warm. Then, increase the heat under your leeks and add 2 more tablespoons of butter (mmm, good), some lemon juice, and FRESH, coarse chopped tarragon. Cook until the butter melts or cook down some more if you want a thicker sauce. To serve, pour over your chicken.

There really is something magical about fresh tarragon and butter. I don't use tarragon that often, but it is subtle and works well here because everything else is so mild. I placed a chicken thigh on rice and then poured the sauce on top of both.

The Wine-Braised Carrots with Fried Sage Leaves was a little high maintenance. First you take 16 sage leaves and fry them in oil. (Again, they wanted me to use olive oil, but I ignored them, especially with making the oil this hot!) You are supposed to fry them for less than a minute and drain them on paper towels. I followed this to the letter, but my sage ended up with a very bitter taste. Maybe if you cooked them for 2o seconds, they would have more flavor. Set those aside for now.

Then in the same oil you fried the sage, saute carrots cut on the diagonal with 1/2 onion, minced and 6 chopped fresh sage leaves. Saute for a few minutes and then add 1/2 cup wine and water to cover the carrots. I didn't completely cover the carrots with water. (I am not fond of overly mushy carrots.) Bring to a boil and cover. Cook for 10 minutes or so and then uncover and stir to cover the carrots in the glaze. Transfer to a serving dish and scatter your fried sage leaves over top.

I love anything braised in white wine, but the fried sage really ruined this dish for me. Luckily, once I realized I didn't like the leaves, I was able to pick them out and enjoy the rest of the dish. The leaves add a crunchiness and that weird, bitter taste and clashed with the delicate carrots and onions. I admit, I might have cooked the sage a hair too long, but I think it was an added step to add drama to the dish. The fresh sage, however, added nice flavor. Next time I will skip the frying and add some more fresh sage into the mix. It was also easy to cook this alongside my chicken and adjust the temp to time everything to be done at the same time.

The dessert I made ahead of time. This might be one of the easiest tart recipes I have ever done. My only problem is that they used a 9" tart pan, I only had an 11" tart pan and so my dough was stretched a little thin and the tart nearly over-cooked even though I took it out 5 minutes early.

In a food processor, blend lemon zest and whole almonds until fine. Then add flour, sugar, salt, butter, an egg yolk, and almond extract. Blend until cut-in like "clusters of peas".

Using your hands, spread dough out in a buttered tart pan, making a standing rim as you go. Cook the crust first. I also pierced the crust with a fork-the recipe didn't call for this, but I always do that out of habit.

When the crust is just starting to brown, pull out of the oven, spread 3/4 cup of the jam of your choice over the tart and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the jam is warm and bubbly. This is a great way to use up the ends of whatever jam you have in the fridge. I used the FABULOUS raspberry jam my friend Jennifer just jarred, mixed with a last little bit of peach jam. This was tasty and rich. I will either 1 and 1/2 times the recipe for my large tart pan or I will have to accept that I need another kitchen item.

48 recipes down in How To Eat Supper.