Crispy Roast Chicken With Riesling, Grapes And Tarragon

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 small chicken (1 1/3 kg)
• 225 g seedless grapes
• 1 (25 g) package fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 medium shallot
• 425 ml riesling wine or 425 ml dry wine
• 200 ml half-fat creme fraiche
• salt
• pepper

Recipe

• 1 pre-heat the oven to gas mark 8, 230°c or 450°f.
• 2 first of all, the chicken and the grapes need to be at room temperature, so remove them from the fridge about an hour (half an hour on a hot day) before cooking. snip off the strings and open out the chicken.
• 3 reserve four sprigs of tarragon for later, then strip off the leaves and chop them, reserving a tablespoonful. now cut the grapes in half and finely chop the shallot. next, in a bowl, combine the shallots, chopped tarragon and about two-thirds of the grapes, then place the whole lot inside the body cavity of the chicken.
• 4 then season the chicken with salt and pepper and place it in a roasting tin into the lower third of the oven and roast for 1 hour - without opening the door. (because ovens vary, test the thickest part of the chicken with a skewer and if the juices run clear, it's cooked. if not, give it another 5-10 minutes.).
• 5 what you now need to do is spoon out the grape stuffing and keep on one side. then put a wooden spoon into the cavity and, using a spatula to hold the breast end, tip the chicken and let all the juices run out into the roasting tin. transfer the chicken to a carving board and leave in a warm place to rest for 20 minutes.
• 6 meanwhile, place the tin over direct heat, add the wine and let the whole lot bubble and reduce by half - this will take about 5-6 minutes. then whisk in the creme fraiche, add the stuffing and the rest of the grapes, and let it gently bubble for another 8 minutes. finally add the reserved chopped tarragon, carve the chicken, spoon the sauce over and garnish with sprigs of tarragon.
• 7 notes on ingredients: for a 1.76kg chicken it will take an extra 10 minutes and may smoke a little because of the extra fat content but it's nothing to worry about.