Thursday, January 12, 2012

Winner-Winner Chicken Dinner! M. Jacques' Armagnac Chicken.....


M. Jacques' Armagnac Chicken


Four paws up and a tail wag from Sasha, The Wonder Dog, and one “Oh, Mama!” from the sous chef, signified that  M. Jacques’ Armagnac Chicken recipe was officially a hit in our household.  As my faithful readers know, I am a Culinary Diva with a minor obsession in mixology.  So pardon me if I am a little prejudiced because this recipe calls for a good measure of Armagnac. 

Armagnac is a region in southwest France, and is the oldest brandy distilled in that country.  Unlike its sibling Cognac, Armagnac is created in small quantities by small producers.  Its original purpose was therapeutic, and don’t you just love how the French have traditionally found therapeutic benefits from the drinking of alcohol, in whatever manifestation, and have even enlisted the support of the clergy in these efforts?  For example, Prior Vital Du Four, a Cardinal, said about Armagnac:

"It makes disappear redness and burning of the eyes, and stops them from tearing; it cures hepatitis, sober consumption adhering. It cures gout, cankers, and fistula by ingestion; restores the paralysed member by massage; and heals wounds of the skin by application. It enlivens the spirit, partaken in moderation, recalls the past to memory, renders men joyous, preserves youth and retards senility. And when retained in the mouth, it loosens the tongue and emboldens the wit, if someone timid from time to time himself permits." 

Thank goodness Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de Leon chose arduous sea travel in their search for the Fountain of Youth over merely canvassing the local spirit shops for the best Armagnac.  Who knows when, or if, the New World would ever have been discovered.

Very little prep work to get this dish ready for action
My sous chef is a huge fan of large, moist, succulent breasts and is not eager to work very hard to get at them.  So he prefers butcher trimmed chicken breasts over whole roasting chickens.  While I maintain chicken can only be properly prepared and appreciated if cooked as a whole, he merely shrugs and opines that the carving and eating of a whole chicken is messy and unjustified by the result.  At least that was his position before I mastered Joel Robuchon’s method of roasting a whole chicken, a method I incorporated with M. Jacques recipe found in Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table.

M. Jacques’ Armagnac Chicken is a one pot meal that is “melt in your mouth delicious” with subtle flavors in every bite.  As with many of Dorie’s recipes, the dish is amazingly easy to prepare.  Chop the vegetables and heat in olive oil; give the chicken a thorough salt and pepper massage; place the chicken on top of the veggies, cover and cook for 60 minutes.  That’s it.  This is the busy person’s “go to” meal, and is perfect for a lazy day when you need to relax from a hectic work and social calendar. 

A little olive oil glistening for the veggies before adding chicken

I made my chicken the Sunday after spending the night with George Clooney and Brad Pitt – tough job, but someone has to do it.  (Okay, so they were at the table next to me and maybe it wasn’t the whole night, but 5 hours next to two of the sexiest men in America—according to me and People Magazine-- is a long time to be spanxed and all a twitter.  In fact, it was downright exhausting.  Thank goodness my sous chef decided to stay home.  Just imagine his orgiastic state of mind (and we are not talking about M. Jacques' Armagnac Chicken) since Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, and Stacy Keebler were all there and nearby. Who knows if we would still be talking to each other after all that eye candy.

Brad Pitt's appearance, with Angelina Jolie and a cane, was a talked-about event at the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s 23rd annual awards gala. Pitt was on hand to receive the Desert Palm Acheivement Actor Award, and the duo were among many other high-wattage stars that made the trek out to the desert for the event.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-palm-springs-film-festival-gala-2012-pictures,0,7475866.photogallery
Gala : Awards Show, 1/7/2012: PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
http://www.psfilmfest.org/festival/photo/detail.aspx?FID=53&PGID=231
Gala : Awards Show, 1/7/2012: PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
http://www.psfilmfest.org/festival/photo/detail.aspx?FID=53&PGID=231
The M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken was so moist and tender, it literally fell off the bone.  The salt and pepper massage added the correct amount of flavor to the chicken – not too much, but enough.  I veered slightly from Dorie’s method and added butter underneath the skin.   I like butter and it creates an incredibly moist chicken in the French style.  The vegetables take on a very rich taste with the amalgamation of Armagnac, fresh herbs and juices from the chicken. 

After a long night with George and Brad, a little medicinal Armagnac was in store

To round out this perfectly simple and balanced meal, we enjoyed a L’Ermitage 2002 Brut by Roederer Estate that we picked up at 3rd Corner Wine Shop in Palm Desert.  (www.the3rdcorner.com.)  This sparkling wine has been compared to a “tarte tartin” with its notes of baked apples, buttery crust, apricots and vanilla bean.  It is made only in exceptional years—just like vintage French champagne—and is a perfect accompaniment to the Armagnac infused chicken.

This is definitely a “Winner-Winner, Chicken Dinner”!
Voila!  Dinner in 60!

To read more Doristas experiences with the M. Jacques’ Armagnac Chicken, or to join the group, visit:


Recipe can be found at the following sites, or better yet - get a copy of Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan from Open Sky, Amazon or your local book store.

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/eurofile-whats-really-cooking-in-paris/

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10258/1084539-478.stm

27 comments:

  1. Christy, Beautiful dish! I used cognac instead of armagnac. Since thats what I had in the house. Loved your description of armagnac...makes me wish I bought a bottle. Your chicken looks amazing! I wouldn't mind spending an evening sitting near George! Have a nice weekend!

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  2. I loved that you added the butter underneath the skin! Wish I'd remembered that when I saw how little my chicken browned.

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  3. Sounds like a fabulous preparation of chicken with Armagnac, nice.

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  4. Your chicken really looks like a winner!

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  5. Beautiful presentation of your chicken with the veggies and the fresh rosemary! Sounds like a fun evening, great people watching at the very least!
    I enjoyed reading about Armagnac and after hearing about everything it cures, I think I should be enjoying it more often;-)

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  6. What a great write-up...perfect! You could be the food editor for something like the New York Times. And after reading about Armagnac...well, I should have added it. Just think how much better off I would be today. Beautiful photos and great job!

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  7. Hello, buttah! What a great idea. We have to remember that one for next time. And glad to see you actually used armagnac!

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  8. Beautiful chicken! Oh to spend an evening with George. He's considered a local here because he was born in Lexington and I often fantasize about running into him and that one little piece of commonality will be enough for him to fall madly in love with me and whisk me off to his villa in Italy!

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  9. YOu are too funny... butter must have made this recipe so much better!

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  10. haha sounds like a good night, all around. Perhaps you could have a-wooed a Clooney if you'd presented him with this chicken. Or he'd have had you arrested. One or the other. lol

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  11. George and Brad? Ooh, la, la! I didn't spring for the Armagnac as I had brandy on hand but will try it as soon as I can get to the liquor store! Your sparkling wine sounds delicious. I have resolved to improve my photography in 2012 and bought a new lens. 50mm f1.8. A great choice for food shots as it lets in more light and provides the nice background blur. Also using a tripod. The photography is harder than the recipes!!!

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  12. Thank you for a fun read on some background of Armagnac! It's the cure-all, isn't it!! I'm envious of that bottle you have. I went with cheap Cognac instead and really miss the prune profile.

    Great looking dish and so happy that it was a hit at yours!

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  13. Is it totally immature of me to be loving your line about your sous chef loving "large, moist, succulent breast?!" My mother says my mind is always in the gutter! Looks like you had a great night!

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  14. Yeah! Love that you had this with sparkling. I loved how easy this was too.

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  15. Your presentation is gorgeous! How fun that you got to be all glam & Hollywood! My niece has been a seat filler at the VMAs for several years & she always has so much fun.

    We loved this & will have it again, soon! Enjoy your weekend!

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  16. Well, I don't know where to start - George and Brad stole the show! How very cool that you got to sit and look at those two for that long! You are the first one that I have read today that used Armagnac. I hope to try this recipe with it some day. The presentation of your dish is beautiful!

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  17. Armagnac, Clooney, and Pitt. Add a little butter and that's about as good as it gets.

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  18. Who knew about the therapeutic qualities of Armagnac? Thanks for sharing. I was happy to spend two hours watching George on screen in the Descendants earlier this week, but I'm envious of your close encounter. Your chicken looks fantastic!

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  19. Oh wow was this a fun post. You already had me wanting to go back to France after reading your comments about Armagnac...then I got to the dinner next to Clooney + Pitt. How amazing !! Great info overall and your photos are lovely - great styling. You make me want to revisit this one and give it a 2nd chance.....

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  20. Butter under the skin! Great idea! :)

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  21. Next time you're dining near George, be sure to give me a call :) I'll hop a flight to join you! Glad I'm not the only one with a dubious hubby, but this one was a winner! Have a great weekend~

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  22. What a great post! I loved reading about armagnac, and really loved the photo of george! Thanks for the tip about Robuchon's method of roast chicken, I'll have to check it out. Have a great weekend!

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  23. Behind on things as usual but I could get to this tonight. I love that shot of everything in the pot ready to go. I'm a big fan of cooking with booze so this one isn't going to get by me, that is for sure.

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  24. First of all George Clooney - I would not have been able to eat my meal. Or uttered a coherent phrase...
    The Dude is a "boneless chicken breast" kind of guy - so I know that story!
    Great job.

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  25. A little gasp when I read about your dinner partners (yes, a few feet means you ATE with them and that will be the story as the years go on. Myself, I love embellishment. In addition, I loved your rendition of Dorie's recipe. I love chicken and if the breast works, go for it. Interesting Post.

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  26. Looks gorgeous! Thanks for stopping by and visiting me!

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  27. I'm jealous =)
    Beautiful presentation...love your pics!

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