I’ve got a bunch of herbs growing in pots on my back porch. I had no idea what to do with the tarragon until I thought up this beauty of a sauce. As a rule, tarragon and lemon usually work quite well together. They are the main flavors in Hollandaise sauce. Use them with chicken, white fish, or scallops. Here I have the chicken served with green bean almandine, parsley buttered potatoes, and a nice dry white wine.

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken tenders
• 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 C Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 C dry white wine (I used Lolonis fume blanc)
• 1 lemon
• 2 sprigs French tarragon
• salt, to taste

Directions

In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil over high heat till a drop of water pops on the surface. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and then in the bread crumbs. Place in hot oil and turn down to medium. Cook the chicken on one side till it browns, then turn over. Turn the heat down to a smidge higher than low. All the chicken to finish cooking.

Once the chicken is done, remove from the sauce pan. Drain about half the olive oil. Try to keep all of the bits and pieces that fell off the chicken as it cooked. Turn the heat back to high. Add the crushed garlic and cook until translucent. Immediately add the white wine and slosh around a bit. If you’re using a gas range, this is the part where the sauce might catch fire. This may be a bit scary if you’re not expecting it, but it will certainly impress any guests watching you prepare it.

Add the tarragon and juice from the lemon. Allow the sauce to cook over high heat for another minute to thicken a bit. Add salt to taste.

Put the chicken on plates and pour the sauce over.