Roasted Chicken with Apples in Calvados Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 chicken (ca. 1.4 kg, ready to cook)
• Salt
• Pepper (freshly ground)
• 2 apples (e.g., Boskop)
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Shallot
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 250 ml poultry stock
• 50 ml Calvados
• 80 ml heavy cream
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash the chicken, pat dry, cut into 8 pieces, season with salt and pepper.

2. 2.

   Wash the apples, quarter them, remove cores, slice into wedges. Toss immediately with lemon juice. Peel and finely chop the shallot.

3. 3.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) with upper and lower heat.

4. 4.

   Brown the chicken pieces in a hot pan with oil until golden brown all around, then set aside. Sauté the shallot and apple wedges, return the chicken pieces, deglaze with stock and Calvados. Season with salt and pepper and simmer in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

5. 5.

   Remove the chicken and apples from the pan, keep warm, strain the sauce, whisk in cream and peppercorns. Bring to a boil again, reduce until thickened, taste. Plate the chicken with apple wedges and drizzle with sauce.