My main inspiration for this recipe was some roasted Chicken I made for my neighbors recently.
I used the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and Simone Beck. For the recipe, you put some vegetables at the bottom and you baste the chicken…a lot! I have never basted a chicken so much before.
Even though the chicken turned out perfectly, my favorite part was the cook’s treat…the roasted vegetables at the bottom that I nibbled on while I made the mushroom, port wine, and cream sauce.
I haven’t been a carrot fan for a long time. As a matter of fact, as a child I was allergic to Carrots, amongst other things.
But these carrots were browned, chewy, sweet, and absorbed the chicken, butter, and oil flavor. So good!
I knew I had to repeat some roasted carrots in the near future…
In addition, I have been reading a lot about French pan sauces, including my vocabulary.
The first being:
Nappé, which is when the sauce leaves a coating on the back of a spoon. That’s how you know it’s ready to be poured onto your food.
Also:
Monter au beurre, which is when you whisk in a little butter at the end of making a pan sauce with glosses it up and add body. The butter softens slowly as you whisk so it emulsifies into the sauce, just like a vinaigrette.
In addition to roasting chicken in this recipe, I also stuffed pesto underneath the skin, which adds delicious flavor and ensures the meat will stay moist. To match the green herb flavors of the pesto, I deglazed the pan (picked up all the delicious roasted pieces stuck to the bottom of the pan) with Sauvignon blanc wine. I think Sauvignon blanc pairs perfectly with pesto because it also tends to have green notes, though you could use Pinot Grigio, which is a great all-purpose white wine that adds a wine flavor to dishes but without lots of oak.
I also roasted the chicken on the bone with the skin. If you tend to have dry chicken breast, try it with the bone in. The skin and bone protect the meat from overcooking, and I think they add excellent flavor.
Give these techniques a try in this recipe, which I consider a lovely Paleo date-night dinner.
- 1 lb carrots, quartered and cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp pesto
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth or stock
- 2 tbsp scallions or shallots, chopped
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 1 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- 2. Toss carrots with tarragon, some salt and pepper, and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Arrange on the baking tray and place in the oven, then start working on the chicken.
- 3. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels so you can get a good sear. Gently lift the skin and place 1 tbsp pesto under the skin. Replace the skin, using it to pat the pesto into a layer.
- 4. In an oven-proof skillet, heat remaining tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Place chicken breast-side down, and sear about 2 minutes until the skin is golden. Flip the chicken so it's skin-side up, then pour broth around the chicken.
- 5. Put chicken in the oven to roast alongside the carrots, roasting approximately 35-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees F.
- 6. Remove the chicken from the oven. Remove the chicken from the skillet and lightly tent with foil to rest and keep warm.
- 7. Stir the carrots. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F so the carrots become browned, sweet, and chewy.
- 8. Return the skillet with the chicken juices to a burner. Heat over medium-high heat. Add scallion or shallot and white wine and reduce until the sauce is reduced by half and coats the back of a spoon.
- 9. Whisk in the butter or ghee until well emulsified. I strained my sauce to remove any bits of pesto and scallion, but you don't have to.
- 10. Chicken can be served on the bone, but for a more elegant presentation, use a small knife to carefully separate the bones from the meat. Carve the meat into thick slices. Divide the slices onto two plates. Top the chicken with sauce. Divide the carrots amongst the plates and serve.
- You can use any pesto you like. For Paleo, check the ingredients to make sure there is no cheese and it's made with olive oil instead of processed oils.
The post Pesto Roasted Chicken with Pan Sauce and Tarragon Roasted Carrots appeared first on Chow Bella Paleo.
