Apple and Honey Chicken

Every year I try to come up with one new recipe for Rosh Hashanah. Some times it's a dessert like last years Honey Almond Tahini Cookies but more often than not it ends up being a main dish like my Pomegranate chicken or Pom- Honey London Broil. This year I wanted a new chicken and came up with this after seeing an amazing variety of hard apple ciders in the store. Apples and honey are a classic Rosh Hashanah combination and cooking apples and shallots in a hard apple cider reduction and pouring it over chicken is just delicious. The flavors here are not complex, they are light and simple but together they make the perfect Rosh Hashanah dish. Enjoy!


For the chicken rub:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 chicken bottoms, cut in half
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2 Tablespoons olive oil
8 large shallots, peeled and quartered
juice of 1/2 lemon
4 large granny smith apples, washed and cut into 8th's
1 cup hard apple cider (available in most supermarkets in Israel and in any liquor/beer store in America)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup honey
Pomegranate seeds, optional for garnish

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees/ Pat the chicken dry and mix together the oil and seasonings. Rub the seasonings all over the chicken and place on a sheet pan. In the meantime, heat up the 2 tablespoons of oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add the shallots Saute for 3-4 minutes until just starting to get translucent and then add the apples with the juice of half a lemon. Season with salt and pepper and saute the apples and shallots together for another 3-4 minutes until the apples are just barely softening. Add the hard apple cider, raise the heat and let the apples and shallots cook together until the liquid reduces about 25%. Pour the entire mixture evenly over the chicken and then drizzle the 1/4 cup of honey over it all. Place in the oven and roast for an hour and a half. (Some people like their chicken just cooked which takes about 45 minutes but I personally prefer my chicken cooked for longer). If your chicken is starting to brown too quickly, loosely place a piece of foil on it. Serve by placing the chicken on a platter and spooning the apples and shallots and sauce all over. Garnish with Pomegranate seeds.