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Friday, January 13, 2012

FFwD: M. Jacques Armagnac chicken

  
It's friday again and so I've tried a new recipe (for me) from Dorie Greenspans book: French Fridays with Dorie.

This time the recipe involved a whole chicken, surrounded with nice vegetables and potatoes. The chicken should be laying in Armagnac. I didn't have any Armagnac, but brandy was a good substitute Dorie wrote, so I took that bottle.
Also the chicken should be placed in a casserole with a lid. I've got casseroles, but not big enough for a whole chicken with veggies. So I folded the baking dish in aluminium foil. And maybe that's why the end result wasn't as it supposed to be. The chicken should bake for an hour and I put my chicken in the oven for even more than an hour and it still wasn't baked completely. So at the dinner table, I did have to put everything back and bake for a little more.

For the sauce which was supposed to go with the chicken, I've added abricots. Dorie advised plumbs, but I didn't have that in my pantry (looks like I've said that a few times before in this post). I supposed abricots got an extra flavour which could be quite nice and I was right.

And now for the recipe. For me this was not the best recipe from Dorie even not the nicest chicken recipe. But I loved it to try it out for once.

If you want to see what the other Dorista's made of it, than you can find it back on: www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com.

PS.: Have you seen that "tuesdayswithdorie" is starting to bake through a whole new book. As you might read before I couldn't participate the last time, because the group was already closed. They start in february in the book: baking with julia.
I've registered myself already (I don't want to be late again). Are you also going to participate?





15 comments:

Susan said...

The thing is your chicken looks perfect & if you hadn't told us, no one would know it hadn't turned out that way! But, I know one of the great things about this group is learning from each other. We loved this recipe - it was so easy & the results were great.

I'm looking forward to starting TWD, too!

Unknown said...

Your chicken looks delicious! We liked the chicken especially with the veggies and sauce. I like finding an easy chicken dish for dinner, that's for sure! I am considering joining the new baking group so I will go check it out, thanks!

Cher Rockwell said...

It looks pretty :-)
Actually the Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux (pardon my spelling) is the BEST chicken from this book. And it gets roasted uncovered.
I wouldnt have thought that wrapping in tin foil should have been a huge issue - although it might not have retained heat as well?
Yeah! I am joining in with TWD also. Looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, maybe it was the pot that made the difference. Sorry to hear that it wasn't your favorite, but I think we all have a few recipes which don't blow us away. We really enjoyed this recipe because we found that the cooking method led to a really juicy bird.

yummychunklet said...

Your chicken still looks tasty. I was worried whether I'd have a pot big enough with a lid as well. Good luck with Baking with Julia!

Robin said...

This wasn't my favorite either, but it's always nice to try something new. Thanks for the TWD tip, it was a closed group when I found it too. Would love to bake with Julia!

Christy said...

So glad you are doing TWD - Looking forward to baking with you and reading your experiences! I hate it when I get a dish to the table and have to take it back to cook more - sorry that happened.

Elaine said...

Your chicken looks so good, but I am sorry you didn't enjoy it. I hate it when that happens where you have to put the meat back in the oven because it is not completely cooked. It just throws off the entire meal. I am also going to be baking along with Julia on TWD and am so happy that you will be also!

Adriana said...

Unfortunately I cannot join Tuesdays with Dorie at this time, but I will pop in time to time to check on your posts. Thanks for pointing out that if a Dutch oven is not used, it takes longer to cook the chicken. I have friends interested in doing the recipe that don't have them, so I'll tell them to uncover the chicken after an hour and cook until it comes to temperature. I hope you enjoyed the apricots! I did have some on hand but didn't think about using them.

Anonymous said...

Too bad this didn't turn out quite the way you'd hoped. It was a hit at y house. Yours still looks delicious!

Still debating with myself about TWD. I've had the book forever and have never made anything from it.

Marie said...

It's fun to try new recipes, even if you decide you'll never go back to them again (as long as you don't hate them).
I can't sign up for another blog--have to have some time left for things other than working, cooking and blogging. But I admire you for doing it.

Unknown said...

Wow, you're chicken looks great and not at all under cooked! We enjoyed this recipe lots, in fact my husband's favorite so far. I ordered Baking with Julia and signed up for Tuesdays with Dorie. I can't wait to beign:)

tricia s. said...

Good for you for "keeping it real" with your response. I had a similar reaction to this dish. I wanted the whole thing more crispy and while it smelled fabulous...it was a bit plain. I am not a huge fan or boiled items and this reminded me of a "boiled meal" that my hubby's mom used to make. Nana and I hemmed and hawed about whether we could do a 2nd blog (she is uber organized and I am always running behind :) but we realized we could trade off and take turns. We signed up yesterday and got accepted. Yay !!

Betsy said...

I'll bet the apricots were great. Someone else added apricot brandy too. That would be a great combo, though it sounds like you might not make this again. I'm more a cook than a baker, but I'm thinking about TWD, though still undecided.

Kathy said...

Your chicken looks great....sorry this recipe wasn't a hit for you. The pot might have made the difference. I have also signed up for Tuesdays with Dorie...looking forward to the challenge.