Recipe by Rachel Phipps
www.rachelphipps.com
Facebook: /missrachelphipps
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“JAZZ™ Apple slices, baked until they are buttery soft and golden and the oven-burnished skins just fall away on the back of your fork are the perfect accompaniment to chicken thighs roasted in a tangy, sticky sauce with plump prunes and aromatic, woody thyme. Ready in less than an hour this easy, all-in-one dish is perfect for busy weeknights, served with crusty bread or boiled new potatoes.”

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Large glug extra virgin olive oil
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Freshly ground sea salt & black pepper
100ml dry white wine
1 tbsp runny honey
1 ½ tbsp mild apple cider or white balsamic vinegar
100g pitted prunes
2 large JAZZ™ Apples
4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus extra for decoration

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a wide, shallow, preferably non-stick casserole dish. Season the chicken thighs, and brown them for a few minutes on each side until just golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Pour off any excess fat in the pan and return it to the heat, turning it down to medium. Add the wine and allow the alcohol to bubble off for a minute or two. Using a whisk, scrape off any baked-on bits from browning the chicken into the sauce.

Add the honey, vinegar and prunes to the pan, whisking until the honey is dissolved. Allow the sauce to bubble away for another few minutes until the prunes have started to soften and the sauce is reduced by about half. Season the mixture well with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, core the apples and cut them into sixths. Add the apples to the pan and toss so that they are well coated in the sauce. Nestle the chicken thighs around the prunes and apple slices skin side down, and then turn them over so that the skin is also coated in the sauce so that they will brown and caramelise nicely in the oven.

Tuck a thyme sprig under each chicken thigh, and transfer the dish to the oven to roast for 35 minutes. The chicken thighs should become dark and brown, the prunes should become plump and sticky, and the apple slices should have browned and softened. There should still be a good amount of rich sauce in the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the chicken with any leftover thyme leaves before serving at the table.