Chicken, Apples, and Cream à la Normande with Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Garlic

Dorie Greenspan: Around My French Table Recipes 12 & 13

The chicken smelled great when I was cooking it in the sauce, which consisted primarily of apples, heavy cream, shallots, and brandy.  The sauce was very good, and i'd be pleased to make this again, it just needed a slight flavor boost to take it from good to very good.  The chicken poached in the sauce and was in danger of overcooking before the sauce was finished and I had to pull it off the heat and onto a plate with tented foil.  I did end up slightly overcooking the chicken, but not too badly.  As for the Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes, I had never cooked with these vegetables before which are not at all like artichokes but more so like potatoes.  The recipe was easy to put together and I kept the chokes in the oven longer than suggested by Dorie, but they still could have used more time.  Despite the fact that when I was peeling the chokes they didn't seem so hard (in fact, a few broke in half while doing so), it turns out they need a lot of time in the oven.  Mine were slightly harder than desired.  The taste however, was good.  In addition to garlic, they were tossed in olive oil and seasoned with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.  I'd try this recipe again.