Glazed sheetpan chicken with roast citrus, carrot and fennel
If you could map the nexus of lowest possible lift to highest possible dinner reward: Sheetpan Chicken.
There are several key principles to good sheetpan chicken. First, you need to be buying good chicken. The difference between terribly bland, rubbery chicken parts and delicious, flavorful chicken parts these days is typically €3-5, so if you’re going to the effort of feeding yourself, let’s make it count.
Second, the undisputed champion of roast chicken parts is a bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh - virtually impossible to overcook, delicious, and gives you that ultra rich browned crispy skin at the end. I’m of the opinion that nearly all meats and poultry tend to taste better cooked with the bones still in them, the bones being a huge source of flavor themselves. But if you can’t find bone-in, skin-on thighs, opt for boneless thighs with the skin, or entire legs with the skin on. If you can’t find skin-on chicken parts, you could break down a small whole chicken yourself and roast all the parts. However, if all you’ve got is skinless parts, you should make something else entirely. Roasting is for crispy skin. And don’t get me started on breasts.
Finally: roast whatever the hell you want with your glazed chicken, it will be delicious I promise. My personal favorite is citrus, fennel, and carrots but I’m also keen to throw in red onions, shallots, potatoes, or green beans and eat it all over a heap of warm cous cous or wild rice. You simply can’t go wrong once you’ve got crispy brown glazed chicken parts on your plate.
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1 package of the best quality bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or legs you can find
3-4 tbsp (60ml) olive oil
1 heaping tbsp (15ml) dijon mustard, Grey Poupon or whole grain work great
2 tbsp (30ml) good quality chunky Apricot or Orange preserves (ideally not a smooth jam, but with bits of rind and fruit in it)
1 shallot, chopped fine
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 blood orange or navel orange, sliced into thin rounds with the peel on
1 fennel bulb, sliced into moderately thin pieces
3-4 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise, keeping the greens on if they are nice fresh carrots (I love using purple or yellow carrots when they are in season here)
Optional fresh thyme if you’ve got it, loosely chopped
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Preheat your oven to 425F/220C. Cover a large sheet pan or baking sheet with sides with aluminum foil to cover the entirety.
Wash your chicken parts quickly in cold water just to remove any film from their packaging and pat dry with paper towels.
Arrange them in the center of the sheet pan leaving the skin side up.
In a small bowl, combine olive oil, mustard, fruit preserves, chopped shallot, a generous pinch of coarse salt and several grinds of fresh pepper with a spoon until well mixed and the oil has emulsified.
Spoon mustard mixture over chicken parts, using your hands if needed to coat the underside of the chicken but making sure any chunks of fruit from the mixture end up primarily on the skin side of your parts to crisp up.
In a bowl, toss together orange slices, fennel slices, and sliced carrots (or any other veggies you might be using) with a generous amount of olive oil, coarse salt, black pepper, and optional herbs until coated evenly. Distribute vegetables snuggly around the chicken so they catch any juice that runs off and absorbs the flavor. Pour out any excess salty herby oil over the veggies.
Cook in the middle rack until skins are super brown and crispy, roughly 30-35 mins, checking to make sure you’re not burning your vegetables. For a little extra crisp on the chicken skin, throw it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes just at the end. It's nearly impossible to overcook this chicken, you just dont want to burn the veggies.
Serve on its own or over warm cous cous, wild rice, or grain of your choice.
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