This Herb Deserves Your Attention.

[elleng]

'Lacking the sun-drenched allure of basil and the practical ubiquity of parsley, tarragon will never win any herbal popularity contests in the United States.

It’s not that we don’t like its earthy, licorice flavor. It’s just that most of us don’t think to use it, at least not to the degree that cooks in Europe do. This is especially true in France, where tarragon is everywhere: simmered into soups, steeped in vinegars and mustards, strewed on fish, tossed with salads of soft lettuces.

But perhaps its most constant companion is chicken. The tarragon perfumes the bird’s flesh and mingles with its meaty juices. In many French chicken recipes, the tarragon is whisked into the pan drippings along with butter or cream to create a sauce.

This is a different take, starting with the fact that there is no sauce whatsoever.

Instead, the tarragon flavor infuses the chicken through lengthy marinating. Plan on at least six hours. Or better, start marinating the chicken the night before. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours and just gets more delicious as it sits in the pungent mix of tarragon and grated garlic.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/dining/sheet-pan-chicken-tarragon.html?

Tarragon Chicken With Sherry Vinegar Onions

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018741-tarragon-chicken-with-sherry-vinegar-onions

[applegrove]

1. I put tarragon all over my lasagna. It goes great with tomato and

creamy cheese mix ( I mix white cheddar, mozzarella and havarti).

[elleng]

2. I've had, repeatedly, a great chicken salad with it.

Now gotta remember WHERE!

[herding cats]

3. I cook with tarragon extensively.

Or I did, my tarragon plants all died in a freak 13 degree cold spell this past winter. Even under mulch and a cover.

I loved it on chicken, pork and many veggies and rootstock dishes. I'm going to be lost without my supply this year.

I still have my Mexican tarragon, but it's not the same really.

[flamin lib]

4. I've never had much luck growing French tarragon but discovered Mexican

Marigold which makes a great substitute and it's a perrineal here in the Dallas area. Use it all the time with fish, chicken,eggs and pork.

I have the same issue with thyme. Supposed to be a weed but not for me. Then I found winter savory. Evergreen here unless the drought gets it. A strong thyme flavor with a bit of peppery overtone.

Finally there's Mexican oregano. Much stronger flavor than regular Italian oregano and hopefully evergreen as well.

The savory and oregano are small bushes and none of them are remotely related to their flavor doppelgangers.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Many years ago, when I was first learning to cook on my own,

I'd go to the grocery store, look at the labels on herbs, and buy one or two every week. I'd take them home and use them in my cooking.

This was important, because I grew up in a home where no spices were used, ever. Salt and pepper, and that was it. So when I was out on my own, I knew there was something better out there, and there was.

Tarragon was one of the spices I discovered, and I use it reasonably often in my cooking. Especially, as it happens, in chicken dishes.

[elleng]

7. Very courageous and wise of you to do so.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Oh, heck. It didn't feel at all courageous

or even wise. Just sensible. Probably the fact that I grew up in a home with such a limited cooking repertoire made it easy to experiment. And the experimentation was spread out over many years.

I will pat myself on the back and say I'm a pretty decent cook at this point.

[elleng]

9. VERY sensible!

[northoftheborder]

6. Can't grow tarragon here, but Mexican Marigold is

Last edited Sat Apr 29, 2017, 01:51 PM - Edit history (1)

a good substitute - It has yellow flowers. Mexican Oregano gets large and has large blooms which look ugly if not pruned back. (I was confusing Mex. Marigold with Mexican Oregano.)

[dem in texas]

10. Used Dry Tarragon

I have always heard that dry tarragon loses it flavor, but I used on the herb on green beans. It was for an
Easter dinner and I served the green beans with baked ham and scalloped potatoes and it was an outstanding meal. Everyone loved the green beans and wanted to know how I made them.