Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1 3 to 4 lb. chicken
-- with giblets
Salt freshly ground pepper
6 oz Day-old French bread*
1 Garlic clove; peeled
4 Sprigs fresh tarragon
1 c Fresh tarragon leaves
2 tb Unsalted butter
2 tb Olive oil

*Cut in 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1/2" pieces.

Rinse chicken well inside and out until the water runs clear. Pat it
thoroughly dry. Remove as much of the fat from the tail and neck
area as possible. Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper.

Rub the bread on all sides with garlic, and place two of these
croutons, with the tarragon sprigs, inside the chicken.

Carefully separate the skin from the breast meat of the chicken by
running your fingers between the skin and the meat. Rub the meat with
salt and pepper, and place 1/2 cup of the tarragon leaves under the
skin, spreading them out so they cover the entire breast.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a roasting pan over medium-high
heat. Add the chicken, and brown it well on all sides, about 8
minutes. Set the chicken breast side up, transfer the pan to the
oven, and roast for
30 minutes at 400 F.

Add the remaining croutons, the neck and the giblets to the pan, and
continue roasting chicken until it is evenly golden all over and the
juices run clear, 12 to 15 minutes. Turn the croutons occasionally so
they brown evenly. Remove the chicken, croutons and giblets from the
roasting pan and transfer them to a platter. Cover loosely with foil
and keep warm in a low (200 F.) oven.

Place the roasting pan, with the cooking juices in it, over
medium-high heat. When the juices are hot and bubbling, scrape the
browned bits from the bottom of the pan, add the remaining 1/2 cup
tarragon leaves and cook just until they are wilted, about 1 minute.
(You need just enough cooking juices to wilt the tarragon. If there
is no juice at all - which can happen - add 1/4 cup dry white wine to
the roasting pan, bring it to a simmer, and deglaze the pan. Add the
tarragon and cook until wilted.) Taste for seasoning.

To serve, cut the chicken into serving pieces and arrange them, with
the croutons and giblets, on a warmed serving platter. Pour the sauce
over the chicken and serve immediately.

A rich, perfumed Fleurie, such as a Georges Duboeuf 1988 or 1989 goes
well with this.

From _Farm House Cookbook_ by Susan Herrmann Loomis. New York: Workman
Publishing Company, Inc., 1991. Pp. 141-142. ISBN 0-89480-772-2.

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