Poulet Rôti aux Pommes et Poires (Roast Apple & Pear Chicken)

By ltrodrigu

This is an easy supper that turns a simple roast chicken into a feast. You can use either apple cider or white wine instead of water, and if you don’t have apples, use all pears, or vice versa.

Ingredients

• 2 onions, cut into 8 wedges each
• 3 fresh or dried bay leaves
• 3/4 cup water, apple cider or dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 1 (3 1/2-4 pound) whole roasting chicken, with giblets
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 large, firm and slightly tart apples, such as Cox Orange Pippin or Honey Crisp, peeled, cored and cut into 6 wedges each
• 2 medium pears, such as Comice or William, peeled, cored and cut into 4 wedges each

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from wsj.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine onions, 2 bay leaves and water in a roasting pan.

Remove giblets from chicken cavity. Rub 1 tablespoon butter inside cavity, then season generously with salt and pepper. Rub remaining butter under skin. (The skin can tear easily, so be gentle as you detach it from meat.) Place lemon half, giblets and remaining bay leaf inside cavity. Truss chicken with kitchen twine, then place in roasting pan atop onions, or on a rack sitting in pan above onions.

Roast chicken in center of oven 15 minutes. Season chicken all over with salt, then roast an additional 10 minutes. Flip on its side and roast an additional 15 minutes. Flip on other side and roast 15 minutes more. (If you don’t have the time or inclination to turn the chicken, you can let it roast for the entire hour without turning, and the results will still be delicious.)

Add apples and pears to pan, shaking pan so fruit settles into cooking juices. Add additional water, if necessary, to keep fruit and onions moist. Flip chicken so breast is facing up, then season chicken and fruit with salt. Continue roasting until juices run clear when leg and thigh joint is pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes more.

Transfer chicken, breast-side down, to a cutting board so juices run into breast meat. Let rest, uncovered, at least 20 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, return pan to oven and continue roasting fruit until tender and beginning to turn golden, 20-25 minutes. Occasionally check on fruit, shaking pan and adding additional water if necessary to keep from burning on bottom.

To serve, remove giblets from cavity and thinly slice. Carve chicken and arrange on a warmed serving platter. Squeeze lemon half that was in cavity over chicken, catching and discarding any seeds. Arrange fruit, onions and giblets around chicken. Pour any pan juices over top.