This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is called M. Jacques’ Armagnac Chicken.
This recipe is a simple down-home recipe perfect for a lazy Sunday dinner. A whole chicken and vegetables (potatoes, onion, and carrots) are placed in a large covered pot. Pour some Armagnac around the chicken and roast in the oven for an hour or so. The chicken creates a tasty sauce while it cooks. The end result is a simple, but delicious, one-pot meal.
Armagnac is a distilled spirit made in the Southwest region of France. Dorie suggests Cognac or other brandy as a substitute. I used a brandy I already had on hand rather than try to find the Armagnac.
The only issue I had with this recipe is that my chicken did not come out “beautifully browned” as Dorie said it would. Perhaps it was because I did not use a cast iron dutch oven? Even though it wasn’t browned, it was still juicy and delicious.
Not browned, but still yummy.
We loved this dinner! This is my husband’s favorite type of meal as he particularly loves chicken. I can see making this often in the cooler months.
From Scratch 
I used by Dutch oven and it did not brown either. I enjoyed my lazy Sunday as much as you, thanks to this great recipe.
Browning the chicken seems to be a problem with almost all of the
Doristas. I ended up running it under the broiler for a few minutes.
All in all, it was a great meal and so easy. Your dish looks great, and those
veggies look so good.
Mine didn’t get brown either – but the upside is that I wasn’t tempted to eat the skin! We really liked this too – glad you enjoyed. It all looks wonderful!
Hi, Karen! I think all of us had an issue with the chicken not browning and some used different vessels than dutch ovens…it just steamed in the pot, however, it was still delicious wasn’t it? Yours looks delicious. I found the same thing as Candy that it was much easier for me not to eat the skin because it wasn’t crispy. 🙂 I will be making this again during these cold months.
Most of us didn’t end up with a brown chicken Karen. We loved it anyhow and I just carved and removed the skin before serving. I used plain brandy and it was fabulous but I would like to try it with Armagnac one of these days.
Yup – the anticipated “browning” ….which Dorie told us to lift the lid and enjoy…did not happen in my house. While the chicken was very moist and tasted lovely, the fact that it was a bit “blonde” ended up a deal breaker for this one getting revisited. Still enjoyed FFWD as always.
Ditto -no browning 🙂 (and I used enameled cast iron)
Glad you enjoyed despite the visual.
I loved this recipe…once you put everything in the pot, it’s pretty much done! Mine browned a little…but not enough. I think it may be that I used a smaller dutch oven. We’re eating leftovers tonight.
I don’t know what Dorie’s trick was to get her chicken to brown, but I used a cast-iron Dutch oven and no browning either. I don’t think anyone got good browning with the broiler. It was so good though. I was alone this week, made in Sunday, and ate it all week.
Our chickens could be twins! 🙂 Glad I wasn’t alone in the un-browness of the chicken! 🙂 Yours still looks tasty though!