A friend recently presented me with a veritable cornucopia of assorted fresh herbs she’d gotten in her CSA box, as she was leaving on vacation the next day and she wouldn’t be able to use them. “What do you do with tarragon, anyway?” she asked.

Tarragon is a really pungent herb that, when used judiciously, enhances poultry, citrus, eggs, and especially cream sauces. Oh, yesssss… especially cream sauces…

I actually discovered tarragon some years ago, when Mike and I used to co-host big St. Patrick’s Day parties at a friend’s home. Back then we lived in a teensy condo and it became a bit too crowded, what with two home businesses going at the same time (don’t ask), to entertain much. Among the advantages of the arrangement, though, was that I didn’t have to put together a kosher St. Patrick’s Day party. I know. Weird. Anyway, I found a recipe for chicken in a tarragon cream sauce in The Best of Irish Cooking, edited by Rosemary Moon. Not exactly low-fat or particularly heart-healthy, but ohmygod delicious!

The conversation with my friend about tarragon motivated me to try to come up with a version that uses no dairy. That accomplished two things: First, I could now prepare this decadent delight in my kosher kitchen, and second, it eliminates pretty much all of the saturated fat and replaces it with soy. I’ve paired it here with some simple steamed Yukon Gold potatoes that I created on the fly, prepared in the microwave.

All in all, you’ll be surprised how quickly this meal comes together – fast enough to fix for your family on a weeknight – but elegant enough for company. You can also multiply this very easily for a large party. I once prepared it for 50+ people and served it buffet-style on warming trays! I’m going to give you the recipe as it appears in Ms. Moon’s collection, with my changes in red next to the original ingredients.

We were really happy with the outcome. As Mike said, when he went into the kitchen searching for seconds, “If you don’t tell anyone that there isn’t any cream in here, they’d never know.”

Chicken in (Non-Dairy) Tarragon Cream Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. unsalted butter (Smart Balance Light Spread)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbs. fresh tarragon leaves
1/2 cup white wine (I was out of white wine – horrors! – and used Calvados)
3/4 cup heavy cream (1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream + 1/2 cup plain soy milk)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Heat a 10″ skillet on high heat and brown the “pretty” sides of the chicken breasts in the butter. Turn them over, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the chicken to a heat-safe plate and keep warm while preparing the sauce.

Raise the heat back up to medium-high, add the wine to the skillet (off the stove, please, for safety), then add the fresh tarragon leaves, deglazing the pan and scraping up all the good brown bits. Allow to boil for about a minute, then reduce the heat again to medium. Add the “cream”, salt and pepper to your taste (you won’t need much), and simmer gently (reducing the heat again, if necessary) for another 2 minutes. (Thin with a bit more soy milk if it becomes too thick) Return the chicken to the pan (along with any juices accumulated while it was waiting), for just another couple of minutes.

Serve the chicken with a generous dollop – or two – of the sauce, along with some Simple Microwave Steamed Potatoes and a green salad.

Simple Microwave Steamed Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 medium gold potatoes
1 1/2 Tbs. butter (Smart Balance Light Spread)
Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Wash and then roughly cube the potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Place on a large dinner plate and dot with the Smart Balance Light Spread. Cover the plate with plastic wrap, leaving a gap to vent the steam, and microwave on high for 10 minutes, or until fork-tender.

If you, too, have always wondered “what do you do with tarragon, anyway?”, I recommend you start with this dish – either in its original form, or my kosher, lower-fat version. You’ll want to add this versatile herb to your culinary arsenal!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated or induced in any way to use or recommend Tofutti or Smart Balance brands. I wish I had been – I use them all the time in my kitchen, and you should keep them on hand, too. By the way, regular Smart Balance Spread contains dairy. I use the Light version, because it is kosher, pareve, and vegan. Although the package states that it’s not intended for cooking/baking, I use it in both with excellent results. Word.

For this edition of #GoJunkFood, the Twitterverse decided that we would take on Hot Wings. And what goes better with friends getting together to watch a game on TV than wings, people? With an orange juice base, freshly ground chipotle chile powder, and Washington State buckwheat honey, I put together a sweet, hot, and sticky concoction that’s a fusion of Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest that’ll get the party started in your mouth!

Chipotle Orange Hot Wings

For the Sauce:

4 Tbs. butter or margarine (I used Smart Balance Light spread)
3 tsp. minced garlic (about 3 large cloves)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
2 cups orange juice
3 Tbs. honey

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter or margarine over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and salt and cook until the garlic appears to soften a bit (about 3-4 minutes). Add the chipotle chili powder and cook for a few seconds, then add the orange juice. Mix well and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and, stirring occasionally, simmer till the sauce reduces to nearly half. This should take about 15-20 minutes.

Add the honey and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

For the Chicken:

1-1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup rice flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. chipotle chile powder

1/2 cup peanut or canola oil for frying

Cut the chicken into 1-inch wide pieces, crossways. Place all the dry ingredients into a one gallon-sized zip-top bag and mix well. Toss the chicken pieces in the dredge, zip the bag closed, and toss until completely coated.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. With a pair of long tongs, take the chicken pieces out of the bag, one by one, shake off the excess flour, and drop into the hot oil. Don’t crowd the pan – you will probably have to do this step in two batches.

Fry the chicken until lightly golden on both sides. This should take about 5 minutes per side – maybe even a little less. It cooks pretty quickly – since there’s no skin or bones here, you don’t want the meat to dry out. If you’re using real wings, cook a little longer. Lay the fried chicken pieces on a paper towel-lined plate until they’re all cooked.

To Assemble:

Put the cooked chicken in a large bowl, pour the sauce over, and toss till every piece is completely coated. Serve with the traditional celery sticks and blue cheese or ranch dressing on the side for dipping.

*Notes:

This version is “boneless wings”, in that I couldn’t locate any kosher chicken wings (What’re you doing with all those wings, Empire? I used to be able to find bags of wings in my grocer’s freezer!). I cut up boneless, skinless chicken cutlets, so I guess they’re just a tad healthier, and they definitely fry up a lot faster than traditional wings. But whether you use wings or go boneless, the sauce is definitely the key.

Depending on your heat tolerance, this sauce is not painful-burn-your-mouth hot. I was going for a balance of heat and sweet, and really wanted the flavor of the chipotle to shine. If you want to go hotter, add more chili powder, but taste it first.

I used buckwheat honey here because its dark, smoky flavor enhances the smoky chipotle beautifully. If you don’t have buckwheat honey, try to use a darker variety available where you live. If I had wanted to accent the orange juice more, I would have used a lighter orange blossom honey. What can I say – I’ve become a honey freak lately, and I just love the flavor variations between the different types. Experiment! See what’s available in your area and try it all!

Speaking of trying it all, here are the rest of the #GoJunkFood bloggers – see what they’ve cooked up for you, too!

Chris at Blog Well Done
Elle at Elle’s New England Kitchen
Paula at The Dragon’s Kitchen
Heather at He Cooks, She Cooks
Judy at No Fear Entertaining

What’s next? Who knows – but it’ll be tasty!