For super-crisp skin on our Apple Cider Chicken, we cooked the chicken in a skillet, skin side down, until it was a deep, chestnut brown. Although we generally recommend a “low and slow“ technique for braising chicken in the oven, in this case, cooking in an unusually hot oven for a shorter time kept the skin exceptionally crisp. Apple cider alone was simply not potent enough to impart the strong apple flavor we wanted for our Apple Cider Chicken recipe. Fresh apples, apple brandy, and cider vinegar infused the chicken with apple goodness right down to the bone. For the sauce, Granny Smith apples were too sour, and several other varieties we tested turned to mush when cooked. In the end, we found Golden Delicious, Cortland, or Jonagold apples worked best.

• 3 lbs bone-in chicken pieces (split breasts halved crosswise, legs separated into thighs and drumsticks)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp minced fresh thyme
• 2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1 large Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, cut into 3/4in pieces
• 1 C apple cider
• 1 tsp cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven 450. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12in oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken skin side down until well browned, about 10 min. Flip and brown on second side, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.
2. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 min. Stir in garlic, thyme, and flour and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and flour is absorbed, about 1 min. Add apple, and apple cider. Bring to a boil.
3. Nestle chicken skin side up into sauce and roast in oven until breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, about 10 min. Transfer chicken to platter. Stir vinegar into sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, passing sauce at table.

Either white or dark meat (or a combination) will work. To ensure even cooking, halve breasts crosswise and separate leg quarters into thighs and drumsticks before cooking. Plain brandy, cognac, or Calvados (a French apple brandy) can be used in place of the apple brandy.