Do I have to tell you the last time I participated in French Fridays with Dorie?
Well, it was last September when I made creamy, cheesy, garlicky rice with spinach. It was really good. But since then I just haven’t had the time to do my FFwD thing.
I hope to remedy that this year, beginning with …
Pretty isn’t it?
But you should have seen it after the suggested 60 minutes suggested in the 450° oven. Oh, wait…
NOT very pretty. And it wasn’t completely done. So I left it in another 40 minutes. Done! Pretty!
While Dorie calls for Armagnac all I had in the pantry was… –>
I really hoped this got better with age because I know I’ve had it for 10 years. And I had just enough {1/2 cup} for the chicken.
The chicken and veggies are left alone in a heavy dutch oven soaking up the cognac for an hour with a tight lid so the whole chicken and the veggies are steamed. It gives you a nice moist chicken. The potatoes and carrots and broth were really good. The chicken… well, I think it needed more seasoning. The dark meat was okay, but the white meat, while very moist, was a little bland.
I am planning to use the broth/juice/gravy with the cognac for a soup base with the chicken. It was sooo tasty!!
Visit the other FFwD members and enjoy their armagnac chicken. And, hopefully, there will be more FFwD here as we go through 2012
Tea and Scones 
January 13, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Wow, I learned a lot in this post! Nice to know that your chicken required longer to bake, it looks like a very large chicken! Also nice to hear the plans for the leftovers. I should have made this one this week. Oh, well.
January 13, 2012 at 12:06 PM
Welcome back!!! Yeah, mine was done after an hour but needed a tanning bed!
January 13, 2012 at 4:19 PM
You chose a great week to come back – this was good. I adore the burnished bronze of your chicken – mine was pale and anaemic because I only left it for the 60 minutes recommended – by then it was already after 8 at night (I had to make this on a work night because I had been away), and I was starving and just didn’t care anymore. But it tasted good anyway, and was OK inside …
January 14, 2012 at 1:34 PM
I’ve given up on FFwD, but I have made most of the roast chicken recipes in the book, including this one. We loved it. And yours looks perfectly delicious.
January 14, 2012 at 5:34 PM
I can’t find armagnac in these parts, so brandy is always a stand-in for me too. Your plan to make soup with the various remains sounds like it will be really good.