Chicken Thighs with Lemon-Tarragon Sauce, Sweetcorn Polenta and Fennel Salad 🍋🌽

Chicken Thighs with Lemon-Tarragon Sauce, Sweetcorn Polenta and Fennel Salad 🍋🌽

Sometimes the best meals are actually the simplest ones. Good chicken, something creamy on the side and a sauce that ties everything together. What I like most about this dish is the combination and balance. The freshness of lemon, the sweetness of corn and that subtle tarragon flavour. Then there’s the fennel salad on the side, bringing freshness and crunch to cut through the richness.

🍗 Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

  • chicken thighs

  • salt

  • olive oil

Lemon-Tarragon Sauce

  • lemon juice

  • white wine

  • fresh tarragon

  • soft green peppercorns

  • butter

  • a little honey

Method

  1. Season the chicken thighs with salt at least one hour before cooking.

  2. Heat a pan with a little olive oil and cook the chicken until nicely browned and cooked through.

  3. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.

  4. Add the lemon juice and white wine to the same pan.

  5. Reduce until slightly concentrated.

  6. Add the tarragon and green peppercorns.

  7. Finish the sauce with butter.

  8. If needed, add a little honey to balance the acidity and complement the corn's sweetness.

🌽 Sweetcorn Polenta

Ingredients

  • polenta

  • sweetcorn

  • shallot

  • stock

  • white pepper

  • salt

  • butter

  • a little honey

  • garlic powder

  • lemon zest

Method

  1. Gently sweat the finely chopped shallot in butter.

  2. Add the sweetcorn and cook briefly.

  3. Pour in the stock and whisk in the polenta.

  4. Cook until creamy.

  5. Season with salt, white pepper and a little garlic powder.

  6. Finish with butter, a touch of honey and finely grated lemon zest.

🥗 Fennel Salad

Ingredients

  • fennel

  • dill

  • parsley

  • vinegar

  • olive oil

  • salt

  • black pepper

Method

  1. Slice the fennel as thinly as possible.

  2. Combine with dill and parsley.

  3. Dress lightly with vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

👉 The salad should stay fresh, light and crunchy.

🍽️ Finish

  1. Spoon the polenta onto the plate and create a small well in the centre.

  2. Place the chicken alongside or on top.

  3. Spoon over the lemon-tarragon sauce.

  4. Finish with the fennel salad on the side.

✨ 3xT — Tips, Tricks & Twists

Tip: Salt the chicken in advance.
Even one hour makes a noticeable difference to flavour and juiciness.

Trick: Reduce the sauce slowly.
This concentrates the flavours and gives a much better result.

Twist: Lemon zest in the polenta 🍋
A small detail that lifts the whole dish.

Bonus: Fennel is best sliced paper-thin.
It stays crisp and brings a beautiful freshness to the plate.

Pa dober tek!