Mustard Chicken

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 shallots, finely sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 150ml dry white wine
• 200ml chicken stock
• 150ml double cream
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 2 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Pat the thighs properly dry and salt the skin. Wet skin steams instead of browning, and this is the step that decides whether the dish tastes like anything.
2. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium-high. Lay the thighs in skin-side down and leave them alone for 7 to 8 minutes, until the skin is deep gold and releases on its own. Do not crowd the pan — do it in two batches if you have to. Turn, give them 2 minutes, then lift out.
3. Pour off all but a tablespoon of fat. Drop the heat to medium, add the shallots and cook 3 minutes until soft, then the garlic for 30 seconds.
4. Pour in the wine and scrape the brown bits off the bottom. Let it reduce by half, about 3 minutes. Add the stock.
5. Return the thighs skin-side up, so the skin stays above the liquid. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
6. Lift the chicken out again. Stir in the cream and let it bubble for 2 minutes.
7. Take the pan off the heat before the mustard goes in. Stir in the Dijon, then the wholegrain. Boiling mustard hard turns it bitter and flattens the sharpness you are after — off the heat it stays bright.
8. Add the tarragon, taste for salt, and spoon the sauce around the chicken rather than over it, so the skin stays crisp.