Quick-Roasted Chicken With Tarragon

This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

French elegance on the fly. Heat the oven to 425, or higher if your oven runs cool. Mix a few tablespoons of mayonnaise with a little Dijon mustard and a lot of chopped tarragon in a large bowl until everything’s incorporated to your liking. Salt and pepper some chicken thighs — I’d do bone-in, but boneless would also work — then add the thighs to the mustard mixture, tossing to coat the meat. Arrange the chicken on a greased sheet pan and cover each piece with a handful of bread crumbs, really pressing the crumbs in so they adhere.

Slide that pan into the oven for a half-hour or so while you make some rice or boil off a few potatoes. You can make a salad, or steam some greens. Then check to see if the chicken has been cooked all the way through. Probably not. Another five or 10 minutes ought to do it. You’re looking for a nice crisp crust, golden brown, above the luscious meat.

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