Busy holidays require advance planning. Here are two recipes that can ease the last-minute crunch by letting you do the prep work the night before. Honey Cracked Chicken takes the honey from our traditional apple and honey dessert and moves it to the main dish. And for dessert, Ginger-Apple Tarts replaces the sweetness of honey with the tang of ginger. With both of these recipes, you’ll have more time for your guests because you’ve planned ahead, and much of the work is done when you’re ready to rumble. Just pop the prepped food in the oven and enjoy your guests!
Honey Cracked Chicken
Serves 6-8
2 lbs. golden beets
5 carrots
1 large or 2 small red onions
1⁄2 cup golden raisins
3 Tbs. olive oil
black pepper, cracked or coarsely ground
1 1⁄2 tsp. salt, divided
Two 3 1⁄2-lb. roasting chickens
2 large or 4 small lemons, pierced with fork
6-8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1⁄2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves
The night before your meal, peel and cut into 1-inch pieces the beets, carrots and onions. Toss them in a large roasting pan with raisins, 2 Tbs. of the olive oil, pepper and 1 tsp. of the salt. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Stuff chicken cavities with lemon and garlic. Tie drumsticks together with cooking twine. Arrange chickens, breast side up, on vegetables. Use a large enough pan to leave space between the chickens. In a small bowl, mix together honey, remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil and soy sauce. Paint chicken with honey mixture. Season outside of chickens with 1⁄2 tsp. salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate.
When you’re ready to prepare the meal, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast chicken 45 minutes. Pour white wine over chicken. Roast another 20-30 minutes. When juices run clear (or the meat thermometer reads 165 degrees), remove from oven. Let chicken rest 20 minutes before carving.
Remove vegetables from pan with slotted spoon, toss with thyme. Arrange chicken pieces over vegetables. Serve with pan juice.
Ginger-Apple Tarts
Makes 6 Tarts
Tart Dough
2⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄3 cup cornmeal
2 Tbs. sugar
1⁄2 tsp. salt
14 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, or butter substitute
3-4 Tbs. ice water
Ginger-Apple Filling
1 1⁄2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1⁄4 cup sugar plus 1 Tbs. more
2 tsp. ginger, grated
3 Granny Smith apples
1 1⁄2 Tbs. lemon juice
3⁄4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
In a food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt. With butter or butter substitute cut into small pieces, add and pulse until resembling coarse meal. Add ice water and pulse until the dough just starts to come together. Gather dough on a piece of plastic wrap. Touching as little as possible, shape into a ball and refrigerate, wrapped, 90 minutes or as long as overnight.
For the filling: In a large saucepan, melt butter or butter substitute. Add 1⁄4 cup of the sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is golden, about 2 minutes. Add ginger, and stir 30 seconds. Add apples, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces, and lemon juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated, 9-10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in vanilla and cool or refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 6 cups of a muffin tin. Divide dough into 6 pieces and with a rolling pin, roll into rounds 4 1⁄2-5 inches in diameter and 1⁄4-inch thick. Drape each over a muffin cup. Mix the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar with the flour and sprinkle on the bottom of each dough-cup. Scoop in 1⁄4 cup ginger-apple filling in each. Bake tarts 15-18 minutes until crust is golden brown at edges. Cool at least 20 minutes.