Graybo’s Yummy Tarragon Chicken

Really, it’s yummy.

INGREDIENTS (serves two):

• 1 small tub (200ml) of crème fraîche, reduced fat if you must.
• 2 chicken breasts, roughly cubed. For goodness sake, get decent chicken, not cheap water-filled, factory-farmed rubbish.
• 1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
• a little butter
• a little olive oil
• a good handful of tarragon, roughly chopped or torn, stems removed. You’ve got this growing outside the door, right?
• tagliatelli sufficient for two. Fresh stuff.
• black pepper
• a bottle of good red wine, maybe two

METHOD:

• open the wine. Have a glass for yourself and one for your dining partner.
• boil some water for doing the tag.
• in a large pan or, better still, a wok, melt a good dollop of butter over a medium to high heat.
• fry the leek until just beginning to soften. Remove from the pan and reserve.
• refill your glasses.
• add a little olive oil to the pan and get it hot.
• throw in the chicken and scoot around the pan until lightly browned.
• get the tag going (I assume you have decent fresh pasta, none of the dried stuff – if you have dried pasta, you should have started this a while ago).
• add the entire pot of crème fraîche to the chicken. Stir.
• return the leeks to the pan. Stir some more.
• mill in some black pepper (nice if you have one of those crusher-type mills, rather than a grinding-type). Stir it.
• throw in the tarragon. Yes, you guessed – stir.
• stir it all up some more.
• drain the pasta and get it on the plate.
• pour the chicken/tarragon/leek/crème fraîche mix over the top.
• blimey, those glasses look low. Top ’em up.
• Eat. Drink. Relax. Candles. Good music. You know the deal.

Takes but ten minutes. Ideal for Friday night. We had it after a starter of fresh local asparagus with shaved parmesan, butter and apple balsamic vinegar. With gin. And tonic.