Say No To Pale Chicken

What promised to be a dish of easy sophistication can sometimes backfire into a string of complications. Around My French Table has a recipe for M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken involving roasting a whole chicken and vegetable with the pricey spirit inside a dutch oven. The goal is that the chicken stays juicy yet everything is infused with the taste of Armagnac. Seems easy enough, no? Not so fast. It’s a golden rule in cooking that when you trade off complexity, your ingredients better be of exceptional quality to stand up to the spotlight.

As a regular shopper at farmers market, I am confident in the quality of my potatoes, carrots, onions, and chestnuts. My first obstacle was getting a good chicken. Quite simply put, I vote with my money. Over the last few years, I’ve been feeling more uneasy about my food living a life of captivity before landing on my plate. Long story short, I needed to get a free-run chicken for the recipe. Luckily, a quick jaunt to Whole Foods got me a $16 roaster already cleaned and trussed.

Next was Armagnac. For ten years, I’ve carefully avoided any recipes calling for this pricy spirit. I come from a family of non-drinkers and shelling out $50 for a full size bottle is definitely out of the budget. I was ready to roast my chicken with either Grand Marnier or Poire Williams, both of which I use on a regular basis. My nagging suspicion is that the flavour would be jarring so I dropped by the liquor store in hopes to find reasonably priced substitute. What do you know? They do carry 200mL bottle of Cognac! Obviously it is not the kind I would serve as post-dinner tipple but for all intents and purposes, it would do. That would be $18 please.

Obstacle #3 was my treasured dutch oven. The recipe calls for roasting at 450F for an hour. I had a hunch that the plastic knob on the lid cannot stand up to such heat. I dug around my basement and somehow managed to locate the owner’s manual that came with the pot (over ten years ago!!). I was right! 400F is the manufacturer’s recommendation. I removed the knob just to be on the safe side and plugged the hole with a wad of aluminum foil. It was a little tricky to lift the lid when my chicken finished roasting.

I had high hopes of a nicely browned chicken because that was exactly what the recipe promised. Once the Cognac steam cleared, what greeted my eyes was this:

Pale, pale, pale chicken! It was juicy and perfectly done for sure (I checked with thermometer). But the colour! What colour?! I could have claimed my chicken was steamed and be totally convincing. Words could not begin to describe my disappointment.

With a spoonful of honey in one hand and a blow torch in the other, I set to work. I carefully lifted the chicken to a large baking sheet and glazed it all over with honey. Burn, baby, burn! The skin bubbled and sizzled and crisped under my flame. It’s amazing how much satisfaction a bit of pyrotechnic brought to this determined cook.

I must give credit to Greenspan for the use of Armagnac/Cognac in this recipe. The chicken, potato, carrot, onion, and best of all, chestnuts were all perfumed with the sophisticated flavour of this spirit. However, my trouble with this recipe is not over just yet. In spite of my cooking and baking experience, I am carving-challenged. My usual way of carving involves some violent manoeuvre with the poultry shears. For some reasons, I just can’t locate the joints no matter how hard I try. It is my dream that one day I can carve a chicken with finesse in front of dinner guests. Today, I took one step closer to that dream.

Since I was in no hurry to serve the meal, I carefully felt around the chicken in search of the thigh joint. Suffice to say it was not where I expected it to be. No wonder I never managed to cleanly separate the legs from the body before! A bit of wrestling and confusion later, I somehow mangled the chicken into four equal pieces with neat cuts. I only hope I can repeat this success.

Now that you heard my tale, you understand why it was not an easy recipe for me by any means. Perhaps other French Fridays with Dorie bloggers have better experience making this dish? Read on! The original recipe is available here at the bottom of the article.

Comments

[Peggy]

Lovely photos. I was worried about the oven temperature and my dutch oven as well. Lucky you with a Le Cruset! I have an off brand, but just let it be. I read somewhere that the warnings are just to keep the makers safe. Most can withstand more heat than they list.

[marcella]

In the end your chicken turned out beautifully ,but a bit more work than the recipe called for. Weird that most are getting pale chickens with a few golden ones. Wonder what the difference is? Your chestnut addition sounds delicious!

[Confessions of a Culinary Diva]

Kudos to you for the honey and blow torch! I bet that honey was great with the prunes!....Good thing I didn't read the le creuset owners manual - who knows if I would have gotten the handle back in without some lenghty explanation to sous chef...it did just fine at 450 but maybe I'll exercise a little more caution in the future....oh, I found a really great chicken online that is a little pricey but the flavor is the best I've had. It's from Broadleaf Game Farms in California or you can find it on Gilt Taste - the Poulet Bleu Chicken, they come around 3 1/2 pds. each.. Warning - head, legs with toes/toenails, and eyes included...

[mardi@eatlivetravelwrite]

I love what you did with this. Personally there is nothing I like less than pale chicken. Yours is beautiful!!!

[Cakelaw]

You are way more thoughtful than me - I would probably have stuck the Dutch oven in, knob and all, and melted it. Your idea for getting a browned chicken is genius!

[Frankly Entertaining]

I love that you used the kitchen torch! We're always using ours for non-culinary things. I really should have thought about it here. My Le Creuset did just fine at the high temp, but you can also just wrap it in tinfoil if you're worried.I know that if I unscrewed mine I'd never see it again!

[Elaine]

What a cute post, Candy! I always learn so much when I visit you. I can picture you with safety goggles on smearing honey on your chicken and blow torching it! What a great idea! I wish I had thought of it because it sounds like it would be fun and your chicken is so golden and just glistens! I left mine in longer because mine looked just as pale as yours did at 60 min, but I thought it was because I had a 4 pounder. What a great buy on the cognac. I want to try this recipe again using cognac or Armagnac just to taste the difference. And what a great idea to add chestnuts. I have found over the years that I can cut a whole chicken much easer with kitchen shears than with a knife. You did a great job and your pieces look perfect.

[Lola]

I enjoyed the journey with your chicken:) I had pale chicken too but we don't usually eat the skin so I removed it as I carved. I was curious what Dorie did that made her chicken "golden".

[Adriana]

Candy, your glaze is AWESOME. What a great idea! As for cognac, I bought a bottle back in the day of the Bistrot Paul steaks, and have used it since for homemade French onion soup and this recipe. I'm sure it might pop up in a Dorie recipe soon again.

[Rose]

Wow, a blow torch, never thought of that. But your chicken looks delicious. Mine came out pale as well, but it was so darn tasty that I forgot to care.

And I have the same pot as you and was worried about the handle as well. I ended up just wrapping it in foil and it seemed to be ok.

[Candy (Dulce)]

Your chicken turned out lovely in the end. I think your idea of chestnuts is brilliant, and I'll have to try it.

Mine was not browned either, but I didn't mind, it just meant that I wasn't tempted to eat all of the crispy skin! I sliced it up prior to serving, so it didn't matter.

Looks wonderful! Glad you enjoyed!!!

[Patty]

Your chicken looks beautiful! I have this image of you wearing one of those welder's masks working with a blowtorch on your chicken! I don't see why it can't be cooked with the lid on for the majority of baking time and then for a while with the lid off until it's browned the way you like. I know Dorie writes that she pulled off the lid and the chicken was perfectly brown which was not the case for most of us who made this delicious chicken!

[Marie]

Wow--that chicken did take on a whiter shade of pale while it was roasting. Very smart to think of the blow torch! My blow torch has been used for only one thing--creme brulee.

[Liz]

I LOVE that you used a blow torch...perfect color!!! Brava!

[DessertByCandy]

Thanks everyone! Another fun week at FFwD!

About the honey trick. It really gives the skin that lacquered shine once browned. Brushing honey on grilled meat is a trick I learned since childhood. Barbeque in Hong Kong is a completely different activity than North American style. Basically we sit around a roaring campfire and everyone has their own long-handle fork. There's a big selection of marinated meat (wings, thin-cut steak, shrimps, and kid-friendly hot dogs). You pick your meat, skewer it on your fork , and grill your own directly over the camp fire. Last stage of cooking always involve a brush of liquid honey and more grilling to get the nice finish.

[Tricia S.]

Thank you for an amazing post !!! I was already entranced (and in agreement about the disappointment re: the color.....) with your reaction to the whole recipe, but when I got to the brainstorming part where you added honey and a blowtorch I laughed out loud and made my hubby read your post !!! Fabulous indeed and your stunning photos really do your efforts justice. And I had to chuckle...when I was a young teen I "helped" Nana by putting her Le Cruseut in the oven and melting the handle. Live and learn....

[Betsy]

My chicken was pale, pale, pale, though moist and tender. I just ate it that way. I never occurred to me to broil it. Your honey/blow torch solution was much more creative! Sounds amazing!

[Cher]

I can totally see myself standing over the bird with the blow torch :-) (In my house, I don't think anyone would question it - they would just shake their heads and leave the room). In this instance, we just pretended the pasty skin didn't exist and got rid of it...
I appreciate your persistence in reaching perfection! Great job.

[yummychunklet]

Love how golden your chicken turned out. I had to roast mine just a bit longer to get the color right. Great post!

[Kathy]

What a great looking chicken...I love that you used chestnuts as part of the veggies. I will have to give that a try next time I make this wonderful dish. We really loved it...so moist and flavorful!

[Mary Hirsch]

You are an innovative and interesting cook. I used as big a pot as yours but had a 4 1/2 pound chicken in it. Everything seemed "jammed" together. My chicken got a bit of a roast but not as much as you got with your honey. If you did use honey for the "roast" look, was it still worthwhile to use brandy in the dish?