8
skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Tarragon
Butter
1/2
cup butter
1
tablespoon minced fresh French tarragon
Egg
Dip
2
eggs
1/4
cup fat-free milk
Flour
Mixture
1
cup all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon salt
1/8
teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry peppercorns
Breading
1
cup plain dry bread crumbs
Toothpicks
1/2
cup butter for frying
Lemon
Butter Sauce
1/3
cup butter
3
tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch
mustard
2
cups warm water
2
teaspoons chicken base
1
teaspoon lemon zest
1
tablespoon lemon juice
2
egg yolks
Seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Rice
1
1/2 cups white Jasmine rice
3
cups water
Lemon
or lime slices for garnish
1.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.
In a medium bowl, blend the butter with the minced tarragon.
Cover and place in the refrigerator. If
you have time, divide the butter into
8 tablespoons and freeze
on a baking sheet.
Place
herbs in a small bowl and
use
a scissors to snip away at them
until
they are finely chopped up or "minced."
Henckels Twinshear Kitchen Shears, Black
3.
Make the egg dip and set aside. Mix the flour with the salt and
pepper in a
shallow bowl. Pour the bread crumbs
onto a plate. Flatten the chicken to
1/8-inch thickness.
The
best tool for flattening chicken breast
with
the least effort. Place the chicken inside
a
plastic bag, then cover the bag with a towel.
This
keeps the chicken juices from splattering
all
over the kitchen counters for sure!
OXO Good Grips Meat Tenderizer
4.
Place a tablespoon of the tarragon butter on each flattened
chicken breast
and roll up to form a log. Tuck in the ends and secure with two toothpicks.
5.
Roll each chicken log in the flour and then dip it into the egg
mixture.
Roll in the breadcrumbs. Set
all the rolls on a plate.
Setting
everything up before rolling the chicken is
very
helpful. Set a plate nearby for the filled rolls.
Chicken
breast, egg dip, flour and breading.
6.
Heat the butter for frying in a 5-quart sauté pan. Fry the
chicken until golden,
turning now and then.
You don't want to fully cook the chicken, but do
brown the
breading on all sides.
7.
Place the chicken in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish or
drain the butter
out of the pan and place the whole pan in the oven. The pan and handles
"must"
be oven proof to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes.
Put rice and water in a rice cooker or cook according to
package directions on the stove top.
Calphalon
quality with a stay cool handle!
The
pan can also be placed in the oven for the
second
part of this recipe. Do drain out the
leftover
butter before setting it in the oven.
8.
Lemon Butter Sauce: Melt the butter in a 2-quart
saucepan. Use a whisk
to stir in the flour and mustard
powder. Stir the chicken base, lemon zest
and juice into the water, then
add all at once, stirring until the sauce thickens.
Stir a bit of the hot sauce into the egg yolks, stir back into
all the sauce,
heat for at least 1 minute, Season to taste with seasoning salt and pepper
and then strain into a serving dish.
9.
Remove the toothpicks and place chicken on each plate and
slice.
Drizzle with lemon sauce and serve with rice. Garnish with lemon
or lime slices.
Hint: After making this dish the first time, you can adjust
the amount
of tarragon or even add tarragon to sauce for more flavor. If you are using a
French tarragon, 1 -2
tablespoons should be enough.
Makes
8 delicious buttery chicken rolls
Prose as delicious as the recipes!, December 30,
2000
After visiting the Herb Farm quite a few times, I was very
excited to hear that Jerry Traunfeld was writing an
Herbfarm Cookbook. I waited patiently for what seemed like
years, and finally the wait paid off. Jerry Traunfeld is
the Executive Chef at the Herbfarm Restaurant, which has
actually changed locations since the publication of this
book. Jerry still relies on herb-inspired menus and has
penned one of the most useful books about cooking with
culinary herbs. This is the book you will turn to for
inspiration and for a whole new world of fresh herb
flavors.
Most of us are content to use dried herbs until we
discover fresh herbs. The bonus in Jerry's new book is
that he also explains the growing process. You will love
the charts of Latin herb names, real-life herb names,
family life cycles, heights, pruning requirements and
special growing requirements. I loved the in-depth
information on angelica, anise, hyssop, basil, bay,
chervil, cilantro, dill, fennel, lavender, lemon balm,
lemon verbena, lovage, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley,
rosemary, sage, savory, scented geraniums, sorrel, sweet
cicely, tarragon and thyme.
To find these wonderful plants, all you have to do is
order seeds or plants from the sources on page 434. You
will also see an address for the Herb Farm which was
founded by Lola and Bill Zimmerman. Their son Ron
Zimmerman and his wife Carrie first had the idea to start
a world-class restaurant. Jerry Traunfeld helped to make
their dream a reality.
If you do start to grow your own herbs, you might be
wondering what to do with so many fresh herbs when you
take them into the kitchen. With The Herbfarm Cookbook,
you will find yourself enchanted by recipes for soups,
salads, pastas, vegetables, poultry, fish, meats, breads,
desserts, sauces, chutneys and vinegars. Information on
how to make candied flowers adds a fun creative touch to
an already extraordinary compilation.
The first recipe I tried was the Lavender Shortbread on
page 288. The recipe is simply butter, lavender, sugar and
flour. The taste...much more complex. If you love lavender
half as much as I do, you will love Jerry Traunfeld's new
cookbook. He makes the best lavender cookies and is also
under lavender's spell as he includes many recipes using
the intoxicating purple flowers.
I made the dough simply by grinding the lavender into the
sugar and then creamed it with the butter. I used a wooden
spoon to stir in the flour. The whole experience of
grinding lavender into sugar with a mortar and pestle is
seductively primal. The scent of the lavender is almost
intoxicating even when using dried lavender. A heady scent
of warm lavender will fill your whole kitchen as the
cookies are baking. Sometimes cooking is more fun if you
use just a wooden spoon and a bowl to make cookies. Making
lavender cookies should be more romantic and old
fashioned.
"I'm addicted to it." --Jerry Traunfeld,
admitting his addiction to Lavender. He continues by
saying: "I find it nearly impossible to walk by a
lavender plant in full bloom without bending over to pick
a stem, roll it around in my fingers, and inhale the heady
scent."
The cookies may also be packaged and given as gifts. I use
a round biscuit cutter with a curly edge. It gives the
cookies a nice shortbread look. The dough seems suited for
a cookie mold, which would be very pretty. I found the
recipe is also good with chopped pecans pressed into the
top of the cookies before baking them. Now, dipping them
in chocolate makes them even better! You can also use the
recipe without the lavender or substitute anise seeds or
lemon thyme for the lavender buds.
Lavender seems to almost have a savory flavor which was in
a way quite surprising, given you would expect a flower to
have a more sweet flavor. I was pleased to find a recipe
for "Potatoes with Lavender and Rosemary." Page
396-398 also contains information on how to grow and cook
with lavender.
This cookbook is filled with 200 herb-inspired recipes.
You could serve the "Coriander-Orange Scones"
for breakfast. "Tomato and Fennel Soup," Pumpkin
and Shrimp Bisque" and "Herbed Clam
Chowder" are delicious examples of the soups in the
first chapter. Green Goddess Grilled Chicken salad
contains creamy avocados, garlic and a mesclun mix (young
salad mix). If you are looking for a great basic
"Fresh Egg Pasta" recipe, Jerry supplies one on
page 99. You can then toss your freshly made pasta in the
"Classic Basil Pesto." Say goodbye to boring
vegetable side dishes and say Hello! to "Snap Peas
with Mint and Chervil" or "Grilled
Marjoram-Scented Corn."
For a taste of the Northwest, there are recipes for Salmon
Fillets. The one with tarragon looks especially tempting.
For dinner, you might want to try the "Rosemary
Gilled Chicken." Rosemary is a classic herb to pair
with roast chicken. Just when you think you have made pork
every way you can imagine, you will find a
"Maple-and-Herb brined Pork Roast." The
"Lemon Verbena Ice Cream" looks just yummy.
As I sip a cup of peppermint tea, I salute you Jerry
Traunfeld. Thank you for the gift of your knowledge. I
hope your cookbook will be the most sought after cookbook
in the year 2001. Your book had found a permanent place of
honor in my kitchen! It is not often that you find a chef
whose writing is as delicious as their cooking! There are
11 beautiful color pictures in this book, but the true
beauty of this cookbook is in the writing. Jerry has
translated his excitement for life and cooking into
delicious prose. This is a true book collectors dream
cookbook. If you love to cook with fresh herbs, you will
love it even more! I can't wait to try more of the
tempting recipes.
~The Rebecca Review
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