M. Jacque's Armagnac Chicken

This was OK, but the other roast chicken recipes in this book are better.

This is an easy and straight forward dish. A bed of vegetables is prepared in a dutch oven (after a bit of sautée in EVOO), the salted and peppered chicken placed in the pot, and roasted at high temperature with the lid closed. Herbs called for were bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary.

The difference here is that you add 1/2C Armagnac (or cognac or brandy, I used cognac because it was what we had).

The aroma was heavenly, the chicken moist, and the vegetables nicely cooked. But the sauce that resulted from the roast chicken was disappointing. The cook is instructed to add 1C water, and stir until it is thickened. Huh? The recipe called for no thickeners. I tried following the instructions, and then added a bit of Wondra flour to actually make it a bit thicker.