What better roast on a hot summer’s day than Tarragon Chicken!

As Richard Olney writes in Simple French Food, ‘tarragon is quarrelsome in the company of bitter herbs and, but for its role among fines herbes, is best used alone’. And never use too much.

My recipe is based on the one in Elizabeth David’s Summer Cooking.

Make a paste from a handful of chopped tarragon leaves and 125g of butter seasoned with salt and pepper and use it to stuff a plump free-range chicken. I also like to add a peeled onion to the cavity.

Put a knob of butter in the bottom of a large casserole dish and add the chicken, placed on its side. Cover the casserole and put it into a roasting oven (180-190°C) for about 1½ hours. Turn the bird halfway through cooking (never let it be placed breast side up) and use the juices to baste the bird from time to time.

Leave the chicken in the casserole dish to rest for 20 minutes.

The sauce is made from the juices left in the casserole. In a small saucepan, mix a tablespoon of flour with a little butter to make a roux and cook slowly for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Continuing to stir, gradually add the juices to form a smooth sauce. A small tub of double cream should now be added or, if you do not want too rich a sauce, use the same amount or more of chicken stock made from the giblets. You may also want to add a little more chopped tarragon.

Serve with the sauce poured over the chicken.