Tarragon

[wellie]

Don't be fooled into thinking that you can grow Tarragon from seed.....!

You CAN actually, but it's Russian, not French - and the taste difference is HUGE !

If you rather like the aniseed-flavoured herbs, French Tarragon is definitely worth growing......

Culinary Uses:
Tarragon is an essential ingredient in French cooking, with fish, poutry, and egg dishes. Used discreetly, it lends a pleasant, deep note to green salads. It is very good in marinades for meat and game, or to flavour goat's cheeses and feta preserved in olive oil. Whole stalks can be used under fish or with roast chicken and rabbit.

Tarragon makes one of the most versatile of herb vinegars and is often used in mustarts and butters.
It adds a fresh, herbal fragrance to mushrooms, artichokes and ragouts of summer vegetables, with tomatoes it is almost as good as basil.
Use tarragon in moderation and it will enhance the flavour of other herbs.

Grow your own:
French tarragon can be propagated by cuttings or in spring by division of the brittle, white rhizomes - do this every 3 years to preserve the flavour of the plant.
Needs a rich, dry soil and much sun. May need some protection over winter.

[Earthbabe]

Most timely warning. Thanks Wellie. I have successfully grown french tarragon cuttings. The thing with the french tarragon is that it is quite tender. Mine dies back every winter, usually after I've harvested quite a bit for the freezer, taken cuttings etc.

It is not great dried, much better fresh or frozen. For a great use try this

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...light=tarragon

Most delicious.

Also great if you shove a few sprigs in a bottle of white wine vinegar. Very easy and tastes divine.

[JazzDuke]

I'm not absolutely sure about the difference between French and Russian being so huge. I have grown Russian tarragon and enjoyed it. I'm prepared to believe that French is better when tarragon is the star, e.g. bearnaise but when it is just a supporting act e.g. in the cavity of a roast chicken then Russian is fine. Although it dies back completely it does re-appear in the spring.

[wellie]

Each to their own JazzDuke, and that's why it's great to chat about it, because I love to learn something new, thanks, I've learned something new tonight.

[Alice]

What does everybody use their tarragon for ? I put a very little in chicken soup, and in Cullen Skink (smoked haddock and potato chowder). Any other ideas ?

[Weavie]

It gives courgettes a lovely flavour, chopped up and thrown in while steaming or boiling.

[wellie]

Surprisingly, a good home-made Tarragon Butter goes brilliantly with a rare Fillet Steak (when the bank manager allows us....)

[yoanbob]

i love it with fish.

[valmarg]

The 'cheap' way I got my French Tarragon cuttings was by buying a supermarket pack on the reduced counter. I managed to root about five pieces, and have kept it going for several years. I have also done this with lemon grass.

valmarg

[Snadger]

The 'cheap' way I got my French Tarragon cuttings was by buying a supermarket pack on the reduced counter. I managed to root about five pieces, and have kept it going for several years. I have also done this with lemon grass.

valmarg

Good idea valmarg! I'll keep an eye out for that.

I suppose you could do this with quite a few other 'supermarket' herbs?

[valmarg]

Yes, Snadger, certainly the perennials such as sage, rosemary and thyme.

Another tip I got was for basil. If you buy a pot of supermarket basil, cut the tops out, and put them in water (a jam jar or similar). Cutting the tops out will encourage the plants to bush out, and the tops root extremely easily in water. You can keep this method going throughout the summer - topping, rooting, potting up, topping. Hardly worth sowing the seeds!!

valmarg

[sweetcorn]

Tarragon rocks!! We love it with almost anything (maybe not yogurt...).

I keep mine year to year in a pot which I pop in my plastic greenhousie thing during the winter. In the spring, I will select one pot to rip apart and make about 4 or 5 new plants. I then give these to friends as pressies.

If you plant some out as an annual it goes like the clappers. You just have to pull it up in the Autumn cos at the first sign of inclement weather it gives up and doesn't always recover (although it has been known).

[running_muttley]

Just wondered is tarragon hardy? I know it's a bit too late to ask, mine looks well dead, will it burst into life in the spring?

[wellie]

Running Muttley, hey !
You CAN be lucky some years, but unless you've been growing it in a pot and give it winter protection, it's not a dead cert.....
I stuck a couple of empty upside down seed trays over mine in a raised bed the very day it started to snow, and I've left them in situ ever since. There's another one in the top of my terracotta strawberry pot that's planted up with herbs not strawbs, and it'll be interesting to see which of all of them survive, if any. Remind me, if I forget, to report back...

[Hazel at the Hill]

What does everybody use their tarragon for ? I put a very little in chicken soup, and in Cullen Skink (smoked haddock and potato chowder). Any other ideas ?

I've tripped over this thread a bit late, I know, but I use tarragon on chicken breasts which are then given a squeeze of lemon (and sometimes honey, depending on my mood!) then in the oven.

I love the freshness this gives the chicken - especially with new pots and butter! Yum yum!



Actually my mum's got the greatest tarragon/chicken/potato all in one recipe which tastes fab - I'll ask her for it and post it in the appropriate thread!