Apple Cider Glazed Chicken Thighs with Shallots & Red Grapes

The (annoyingly long) title says it all! An easy, seasonal, one-pan, oven-only dinner that is as flavorful as it is comforting.

Now that it’s somniferously pitch black out by the time I get home , the last thing I want to do is create a mess in my kitchen trying to put dinner on the table. This dish is incredibly simple with minimal produce processing and nearly zero active cooking while still yielding a stunning, aromatic, and succulent result.

The chicken thighs are slowly roasted in a sauce of white wine, butter, shallots, garlic, thyme, and apple cider that reduces into a simple pan sauce as it cooks. The chicken is tender and juicy, the shallots are braised to perfection, and the roasty grapes add a unique sweetness and flair to an otherwise basic one pan dinner.

This dish is best served with a hearty side, my recommendation being garlicky mashed potatoes, to soak up more of that fabulous pan sauce. Happy cooking!

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Apple Cider Glazed Chicken Thighs with Shallots & Red Grapes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 5 to 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon crushed fennel seeds

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 1 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally

• 2 to 3 large shallots, sliced in half horizontally

• 1/2 cup white white (any white wine you like to drink!)

• 1 cup apple cider

• 1 head of garlic

• 6 sprigs fresh thyme

• 4 to 5 tablespoons cold butter

• 1 to 2 bushels fresh red grapes, washed, still on the vine

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 375F.

2. Lightly grease a large cast iron skillet or other baking dish with extra virgin oluve oil. Set aside.

3. Remove your chicken thighs from their packaging and pat dry.

4. Coat the chicken thighs evenly in the extra virgin olive oil, crushed fennel seeds, salt, and black pepper. Set aside.

5. In your cast iron skillet or baking dish arrange your chicken thighs skin side down. The arrange the shallots and garlic cut side down.

6. Once your oven has come to temperature, place your dish in the oven for 20 minutes.

7. Once the time has elapsed, remove your chicken and flip the thighs to be skin sid up.

8. Pour your wine and cider in the bottom of the pan and add your thyme sprigs. Cut your butter into as many even chunks as you have chicken thighs and place a piece atop each thigh.

9. Return the pan to the oven for 45 minutes. Baste the chicken occasionally with the pan sauce. Feel free to add a bit more cider if it is looking too dry.

10. Once the time has elapsed, remove your dish and arrange your grapes in the pan and turn your garlic cut side up.

11. Return the pan to the oven for an additional 20 minutes or until the grapes look lightly roasted.

12. Once the grapes are roasted and the chicken is golden brown, remove the pan from the oven.

13. Serve your thighs with a spoonful of the braised shallots, a handful of the roasted grapes, and a generous amount of pan sauce spooned on top.