Glazed roast chicken with caramelized quince

This roast chicken with caramelized quince fruit will look beautiful on your table — and it happens to taste absolutely divine. If you love country-style French cuisine, this is a perfect recipe for you.

If you’ve never had quince, it’s similar to an apple or a pear but not quite as sweet, and it has a faint citrus scent. I serve quince on Rosh Hashanah as part of our holiday tradition, and caramelized quince pairs beautifully with roast chicken and a side dish of wild rice.

Quince is best cooked in autumn, when it’s in season.

I glaze this chicken with jam for a bit of extra sweetness for a sweet new year, but you can roast the chicken plain without a glaze if you prefer.

Ingredients
Serves 4
1 whole chicken, 3-4 pounds
½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small shallot, peeled
¾ cup chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
1 medium-large onion, peeled and halved
3 large, fresh quince
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons margarine or oil
⅓ cup of sugar
Optional: 1 cup of quince or apricot jam for glazing the chicken, plus 2 tablespoons of oil

Set the oven to 350 F and place the wire rack in the middle of the oven.

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and rub it inside and out with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Put the peeled shallot and fresh thyme sprigs inside the cavity of the chicken — you can tie the legs together with kitchen string or use poultry lacers to keep the wings and legs tight to the body of the bird.

Place the bird into a roasting pan or a large casserole dish.

If you’re roasting chicken without a glaze, sprinkle it with a little extra salt and black pepper. To glaze the chicken, take 1 cup of quince or apricot jam mixed with 2 tablespoons of oil and glaze the bird with about half of mixture using a pastry brush.

Put the two onion halves into the pan and pour the chicken stock into the bottom of the pan, but not over the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 35 minutes and prepare the quince while it’s cooking.

Squeeze ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice and put it into a wide shallow dish. I leave the skin on half of the fruit for color and texture. You can peel it all or leave the skin on entirely.

Core each quince and cut it lengthwise into 8 pieces as you would when cutting apples for pie. As you cut the quince, add them to the dish with the lemon juice, turning the pieces so that they are well coated.

Place a sauté pan over medium-low heat and melt 2 tablespoons of the most natural and buttery tasting margarine that you can get, then add the quince slices to the pan, turning them regularly for 8 minutes.

Raise the heat to medium, sprinkle ⅓ cup of sugar over the quince and fold the pieces over so that the sugar melts into the margarine.

Sauté for another 8-10 minutes or until the quince starts to brown and the sauce is bubbling. The quince should not be entirely soft because you will add it to the pan of chicken to roast in the pan juices at the end. Set the quince aside.

After the chicken has roasted for 35 minutes, take it from the oven and add 1 cup of dry white wine to the dish.

Turn the oven up to 375 F and roast the chicken for another half-hour.

Take the chicken from the oven and add the quince around the chicken, gently mixing it with the juice in the bottom of the pan.

Brush the chicken with the remaining glaze, turn the oven up to 400 F, and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature is a minimum of 170 F for food safety.

I love how the sugar in the glaze blackens the chicken skin; just watch it carefully near the end. Allow the chicken to rest and cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before carving it, and season with salt or pepper to taste.

Place the chicken, onion and quince on your platter and drizzle the quince with the remaining sauce from the pan. If you have extra thyme, it makes a nice garnish on the serving platter. Wishing all of you peace, security, good health and much success in the coming year. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.