9 Comments

I’m intrigued by the pairing (trio I guess including chicken) of grapes and tarragon. What other fruit would work well? I was astounded at how well fresh peaches and basil work together along with heirloom tomatoes, a twist on Caprese salad I was once served.

Also wondering how the Bernaise-ish sauce would be with eggs Benedict. So many options!

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Strawberry springs to mind, though only if chicken and strawberry salad is your jam (it is not mine, a bit too American for me but I know it would work well for a fan of the combo) and peaches would work too, though yellow ones not white whose perfume I think would compete too much with the tarragon. But I think grape is the best to work with the chicken?

And I LOVE peaches and basil, I used to do them in a frying pan with honey and finish them with shredded basil when I lived in Los Angeles when I was 20 and needed an alternative to my usual slug of Amaretto!

And I'd try it, I think it would work well, especially as you're able to control the consistency, though it does have a bit more tang from the wine and vinegar than Hollandaise - maybe just use white wine and leave out the vinegar? Free-wheeling here, if you give it a go let me know how it went!

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Oh I loved this! Here in Siena people love tarragon, dragoncello, they call it dragoncello senese, and legends want you cannot buy it, you have to be gifted a plant of tarragon to grow it!

They make a dragoncello sauce with parsley, vinegar soaked breadcrumbs, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and use it to dress eggs and boiled chicken.

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Oh that is such a beautiful name for it! Are the eggs soft boiled and cold, or...? That sauce sounds delicious.

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Actually any egg dish, but especially cold hard boiled eggs

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I have just finished baking this afternoon, a tarragon and white chocolate blondie. The recipe comes from Benjamina Ebuehi in her most recent book A Good Day to Bake. An unexpected sweet pairing but really delicious.

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Oh that sounds delicious, and after pairing tarragon with rhubarb this month I think it provides both a nice aniseed and herbal note to the sweetness of the white chocolate? And I've been meaning to slip into a bookshop to have a flip through that one - have you made anything else from it? I'm not a massive baker so I usually ignore baking books but I do like bakes with less traditional flavour pairings?

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I have really enjoyed both of Benjamina’s books partly because she does pair some interesting flavours which are often a good starting point for how they can be used elsewhere. A Good Day to Bake also includes some savoury bakes and a couple of not quite baking things like a savoury Dutch baby that is quite adaptable and has graced our dinner table a few times now! Definitely worth a look.

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Thanks - I'll up my efforts seeking it out! And I do love a savoury Dutch Baby, I often do one wiht mushrooms when I'm home alone: https://www.rachelphipps.com/2018/01/pancake-day-creamy-mushroom-savoury.html

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