BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS WITH CIDER, APPLES & MUSTARD

BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS WITH CIDER, APPLES & MUSTARD image

Yield 4

Number Of Ingredients 10

4 bone-in, skin-on medium chicken thighs (1-1/2 to 1-3/4 lb.)
4 chicken drumsticks (1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lb.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 medium apples such as Rome, Spy, or Mutsu, peeled, cored, and cut into sixths
2 cups dry hard apple cider
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 large marjoram sprigs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs. chopped fresh marjoram

Steps:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper. In a straight-sided 10- or 11-inch ovenproof sauté pan with a lid, heat the oil over mediumhigh heat until very hot. Arrange the chicken pieces skin side down in the pan (it'll be crowded), cover with a splatter screen, if you have one, and cook until deeply browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the pieces over and cook until the other sides are deeply browned, 3 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Pour out and discard all but 1 Tbs. of the fat from the pan. Set the pan aside to cool for a few minutes. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the apple pieces, and cook, turning once, until both cut sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a different plate. Carefully pour the cider into the pan and bring to a boil, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Whisk the mustard into the cider. Return the chicken to the pan, along with any accumulated juices. Add the marjoram sprigs and cover. Transfer the pan to the oven and braise for 10 minutes. Add the apples and continue to braise until the chicken is fork-tender and the drumstick meat starts to come away from the bone, 35 to 40 minutes more.