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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Make a sheet-pan-style skillet chicken with apples and fennel by seasoning chicken with a cinnamon-thyme-mustard rub, searing it, then finishing it in the oven with apples, fennel, and onion. The video presents this as a Rosh Hashanah dish that works year-round, and it is shown as a recipe from Jamie Geller's Joy of Kosher.
Key Points
- The dish combines kosher chicken pieces with tart apples, fennel (also called anise), and onion, cooked together in the chicken's pan juices and spices.
- The method is a sear-then-bake approach: brown the chicken on the stovetop first, then finish it uncovered in the oven.
- The host recommends using a hot pan with cold oil and cold food to get a good sear and crispy skin, which she calls a trick she learned.
- She suggests slicing the apples, fennel, and onion by hand rather than with a mandoline, since she is "scared" of hers.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Make the rub: combine kosher salt, cinnamon, dried thyme, black pepper, and about 1 teaspoon of mustard powder (the transcript says "about a tablespoon, a teaspoon of mustard powder," so use 1 teaspoon). Rub generously over about 3 to 4 pounds of chicken cut into 8 pieces.
- Prepare produce: wash and slice 2 apples, one fennel bulb, and one onion into roughly 1/4-inch thin slices. Peel the outer layer of the apple if dirty.
- Heat a pan on the stove, add a good-quality olive oil, and place the chicken skin-side down. Sear about 4 to 5 minutes per side, working in batches if needed.
- Remove the chicken and cook the apples, fennel, and onion in the pan juices and leftover spices for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly so they do not burn.
- Return the chicken to the pan on top of the vegetables, skin-side up. Cook on the stovetop about 5 more minutes.
- Add about 1 cup of chicken broth to the pan.
- Bake uncovered at 350°F for about 30 minutes until fully cooked.
- The chicken is not fully cooked after searing; it finishes in the oven.
- The host notes the method works in a stovetop-to-oven pan.
Bottom Line This is a practical, flavorful one-pan dish where searing the chicken first builds flavor that carries into the apples, fennel, and onion before the oven finishes the job.
