The second “grown up” sauce …

… is Tarragon. This sauce uses cream and butter and is not as thick as the Calvados Cream Sauce since it's not made with a roux base. Its “grown up” element is Vermouth or dry white wine if you don't have Vermouth in your wine cellar! I use Noilly Prat as my Vermouth of choice – France's first and has been in existence since 1855.

For a pie filling that's a cut above and compliments the sauce, seal 600g diced chicken fillet together with two finely sliced leeks.

Here's the sauce recipe :

Tarragon Sauce

Serves 4

Bunch of spring onions, finely diced

1 tsp dried tarragon

Fresh tarragon – chopped – approx 2 tbsp

160ml/¼ pt/5 fl oz approx Vermouth or dry white wine

½ tsp of sea salt flakes or celery salt

240ml/8fl oz double cream

white pepper

drop of Rapeseed oil/Canola and a knob of butter

**optional variation – mash 2 cloves of roasted

garlic paste into a Knorr chicken stock pot

it's delicious – if you like garlic!

600g diced chicken fillet

2 finely sliced leeks

seal in a drop of rapeseed oil and

then set aside

Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan, add the onions and then dried tarragon. **Add the mashed garlic and stock paste at this stage. Add the Vermouth, let it bubble up, add salt, add the cream and fresh tarragon and finally white pepper. Add the sealed diced chicken fillet and the leeks and simmer gently for 20/25 minutes.

If you'd prefer a veggie version then substitute the diced chicken fillet with Quorn pieces – they take 12 minutes from frozen to cook, so you'll need to tweak the method. Seal the leeks with the onions and dried tarragon at the beginning of the recipe and then continue, simmering the sauce for 8 minutes, adding the Quorn pieces and cooking for the remaining 12 minutes.

Whether you choose chicken or Quorn your pie filling is ready to use when you are, all that remains is your lid of choice and you'll need 500g of pastry or cooked jacket potatoes from your stash.

Hints and tips

If you wanted the sauce a little thicker add a heaped teaspoon of slaked cornflour gradually to your sauce whilst at the simmering stage at the end of the recipe, to the thickness required.

“Slake” is to mix, in this instance cornflour, with cold water and then add it to a simmering sauce, gradually, to thicken it.

This sauce is versatile and in its original state makes a delicious drizzling sauce over chicken or any poultry and veggie alternatives of course.

Sauce ideas to suit everyone I hope, however, I should say that tarragon has an aniseed flavour so if you're not a fan this may not be for you.

Next – carrying on where I left off …