I like cooking with fruits. They impart a sweetness that isn’t cloying, they add color to the sauce and meat, and they thicken the sauce naturally as the fruit fibers break down and turn into a pulp. Of all the times I cooked a main dish using fresh fruits, my recent favorites include chicken and mangoes in yogurt, pineapple and chicken rice and pollo ala naranja.
There are times though when we don’t have fresh fruits in the house or when the fruits that we do have aren’t ideal for cooking (bananas are the most common fruits in our house, for instance). During those times, if I want to add a fruity flavor to the dishes that I cook, I use fruit jam. This chicken dish was cooked with guava jelly and it was superb. Slightly sweet, slightly tangy and very, very aromatic.
The only real effort here is in browning and searing the chicken before baking. You have to, really, because unless the chicken is browned and seared, scum will form during the first few minutes inside the oven and all of it will go into the sauce. After that, you just pop it in the oven. No stirring, no watching, no mess.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 k. of chicken thighs and legs
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp. of lemon zest
1 to 2 tsps. of salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 c. of fruit jam (at room temperature)
about 12 sprigs of fresh rosemary (you may also use tarragon)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a non-stick frying pan, brown the chicken thighs and legs — in batches, if necessary. With a non-stick pan, there’s no need to add oil because the fat in the chicken skins will melt and provide all the oil you need. You’re not cooking the chicken all the way at this point — just searing them. As each batch of chicken browns, transfer to a baking dish (which should be large enough to hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer).
Scatter the rosemary over the browned chicken thighs and legs.
In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice, fruit jam, salt, pepper and zest. Pour over the chicken and rosemary.
Take a piece of foil, poke in several places to create stem vents. Cover the baking dish with the foil.
Bake the chicken at 350F for 40 minutes. Peel off the foil, turn up the heat to 425F and bake for another 10 minutes.
Allow the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes (just long enough for you to set the table). Serve with rice (see my fried rice with rosemary and toasted garlic) or bread.
Cooking time (duration): 1 hour
Number of servings (yield): 4 to 6
Meal type: lunch / supper
as usual, your site is such a big help. i so happened to have rosemary in my fridge which i just bought from the herb rack on a whim; chicken and some fruit jam. I will try this recipe now. thanks so much tita connie.
will tell you later how it turns out!
thank you so much for this recipe! i wanted to prepare a special dish for tonight as im bored cooking italian dishes for my husband,luckily i found ur site
buon appetito! greetings from Italy!
Oh, we love Italian dishes! My younger daughter, especially.
hi connie, i tried this recipe and used the kumquat jam i personally made and it was so delicious. next time i will try strawberry jam or grape jelly. i hope it will turn out okay.
It will. Guava jelly works too.
Connie,
I tried it, aside na masarap, madali pa. For someone na kagaya ko na hindi marunong magluto, this is a good start.
Thank you so much.
Pam
hello, ms connie! i just cooked this tonight, Valentine’s dinner and it was yummy! your recipes are the best! thanks for sharing them.