Joltin' Django cooks, bistro-style

The following recipe was featured in Saturday's Wall Street Journal. I decided to give it a whirl this evening, and boy was it good. (I used a whole fryer, cut up.)

Bistro-Style Chicken With Tomato and Tarragon

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts and 2 leg/thighs, on the bone with skin (or a 31/2-pound chicken cut up)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, lightly crushed with your hands, juice reserved
1/4 cup tarragon or white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh tarragon leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large, heavy, nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat. When it just begins to smoke, add only enough chicken pieces to fit into the skillet without touching and cook until well browned on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter and set aside while you sauté the remaining pieces in batches, if necessary.

When all the chicken has been removed from the skillet, add the garlic to the drippings and sauté over medium heat until fragrant but not browned, about 15 seconds.

Add the wine and chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, scraping up the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the skillet along with any accumulated juices and boil the liquid until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the skillet along with about half the juice in the can, the vinegar, and the butter. Return to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through (it should register 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer) and the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes; turn the chicken pieces once or twice during the cooking time and break up the tomatoes with a spoon. The sauce should hold together but still be chunky. (If the breasts are very thick and are not cooked through after 30 minutes, remove the legs from the skillet, cover with a lid and continue to simmer until done.)

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the fresh tarragon and season with salt and pepper. Serve the chicken in the skillet or transfer to a platter, topping it with the sauce.