Chicken with tarragon and leek
Dutch cuisine has a pretty poor reputation. At restaurant RIJKS*, top chef Joris Bijdendijk shows that you can make fantastic dishes with Dutch products. And that is exactly what he does in his book Bijdendijk. A Kitchen for the Low Countries too. It contains old family recipes, as well as recipes for dishes that Joris serves at RIJKS.
This is the dish that Joris has eaten most often in his life. You can therefore rightly call it one of his favorite dishes.
Making Joris Bijdendijk’s chicken
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Stuff the chicken with the tarragon, 100 grams of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Rub the remaining butter over the outside of the chicken and lightly sprinkle with celery salt. Roast the chicken in the oven for 60 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and crispy.
Blanching the leeks
While the chicken is in the oven, clean the leeks by cutting into them lengthwise from the green end and washing out the sand. Tie them together with kitchen twine like a bundle. Blanch the leeks for about 5 minutes in boiling salted water, preferably in a long fish-poaching pan so they do not need to be bent. Otherwise, bend them in another pan.
Cooking the potatoes
Scrub the potatoes clean in water. Cut them into elongated pieces, with the skin on. Cook the potatoes until tender, for about 15 minutes (start in cold water).
During the final 20 minutes, place the cooked potatoes and blanched leeks under the chicken so they can simmer in the chicken juices and butter.
Plating
Cut both chicken breasts in half, as well as the legs. Give each person a leek, potatoes, part of a breast, and part of a leg. Spoon some of the gravy over the dish.
Bijdendijk. A Kitchen for the Low Countries.
Joris Bijdendijk
€ 39,95
Nijgh & van Ditmar
