My first real cookbook was The Way to Cook, by Julia Childs. It has her recipe for this braised chicken in mustard sauce. It’s on page 156. Look it up. I’m not a big fan of Tarragon, so I used Thyme. Then, many years later, this crafty little rascal named Suzanne Goin, comes out with Sunday Suppers at Lucques. She liked Julia’s recipe too. And, I guess she isn’t a big fan of Tarragon either, because she uses Thyme. She pairs the chicken with leeks.
Bone In Skin On Chicken Thighs. Goin’s recipe marinades the chicken in Dry Vermouth, Thyme and Shallot.
She has you discard the marinade and build a sauce for the chicken almost identical to it. So, I just reserved the marinade and reduced it down instead of duplicating the effort.
The other ingredients in the chicken coating are mustard, egg and breadcrumbs. Depending on what type of mustard you are using, you may want to veer off of Goin’s recipe amount. I make my own mustard and it’s pretty punchy, so I back off the prescribed amount.
I also braised the chicken and leeks in separate pans so I could cook the chicken longer without completely breaking down the leeks. Also, instead of braising in chicken stock, I used Sofrito.