This is one of those recipes that tastes like it would be hard to make, but really it is incredibly simple. The secret is the tarragon. Your average person isn’t using tarragon on a daily basis so the flavor seems impressive and exotic. Really it is just some simple leaves you can find in pretty much any grocery store. If you can’t find fresh tarragon, you can substitute dry. Tarragon has a flavor all its own. People describe it as a combination of licorice, mint, pine, and pepper. Sound crazy? It’s delicious. Don’t believe me ask the dishes! Oh wait, this isn’t Beauty and the Beast and I don’t live in an enchanted castle where my dishes can talk. But I do love tarragon. Tarragon and dijon mustard are the perfect combination. You’ll gobble up the drumsticks and twist the pasta around your fork as fast as you can.
Ingredients
12 chicken drumsticks
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons tarragon, finely chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard per drumstick (12 tsp)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a jelly roll pan (or other baking pan of choice).
2. Season drumsticks with salt and pepper.
3. Combine softened butter with tarragon.
4. Rub down each drumstick with dijon mustard and tarragon-butter mixture.
5. Cook at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. Check with a meat thermometer to ensure it has been cooked to the advised 165 degrees.
For the Pasta:
Ingredients
1 lb linguine
1 tsp olive oil
4 shallots, diced
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
4 T butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tarragon, chopped
2 cups milk or half and half
Instructions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, saute shallots and mushrooms in olive oil in a large fry pan over medium high heat, about 7 minutes until mushrooms and onions are cooked through.
3. Add in butter and allow to melt. Then add in garlic and saute for another 1 minute.
4. Add in tarragon and give the pan contents a quick toss. Add in milk and allow to simmer until pasta is ready.
5. Pour mushroom sauce over linguine and serve hot.
Hi Rachel, this recipe was really tasty and I plan on making it again but I wanted to ask you something: How on earth did you get the butter to stay on the chicken?? I put some under the skin because I find it keeps it moist but I really struggled to keep it on the outside of the skin. I feel mine didn't brown as nicely as yours for this reason.
All I do is put them on top. Make sure they don't slide off before you put them in the oven. That way the melt over the whole thing as they sit in the oven. You could try basting them every 10 minutes which will both help retain moisture and give it a nice brown. Sometimes I baste, sometimes I don't have time!
This was AMAZING! I just happened to have mushrooms and a bunch of tarragon in my fridge when I saw your recipe this morning. I used chicken breasts and broiled them instead. It was fabulous and I think will be my go-to recipe when I have a large group or family over. Easy, impressive and delicious.