Braised Chicken with Fennel and Apples

Braised Chicken with Apples & Fennel. Recipe and photo courtesy of Polina Antonova.

Don’t let the long-ish list of ingredients scare you away from this during the work week. Once everything is in the roasting pan, this dish practically finishes itself. Simple, healthy & delicious. Recipe courtesy of Polina Antonova, chef and owner of Caliblini Personal Chef Service. Serves 4.

• 2 TBL olive oil
• 1 whole chicken (cut it apart yourself or buy it pre-cut to save time)
• Sea salt and fresh ground white pepper
• 2 TBL olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced (AKA Sweet Anise)
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups apple cider
• 3 granny smith apples, cored and sliced
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves

Directions: Cut the wing tips off the chicken. Cut chicken into two breast quarters and two leg quarters, reserve the carcass and wing tips for stock. Season chicken with salt and white pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange chicken pieces in the skillet, skin side down. Brown until the skin is crisp and golden, 8-10 minutes. Turn over, brown the other side 4-5 minutes.

Oil an ovenproof baking dish. Arrange onion, garlic, celery, and half of the fennel on the bottom. Transfer browned chicken pieces to the dish, skin side up.

Pour off and discard most fat from the skillet. Deglaze skillet with white wine, scraping the bottom to release all the browned pieces sticking to it. Pour the wine over chicken. Arrange remaining fennel on top. Tuck in bay leaves and thyme. Pour in apple cider. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in the oven until chicken is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the foil, tuck apple slices around the chicken and fennel, return to the oven. Bake until apples are tender and chicken skin and fennel are crisp, 15-20 minutes.