During Rosh Hashanah, “happiness and sweetness is not an abstract concept,” says Rabbi Zac Kamenetz, senior educator at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. In the spirit of the High Holy Days, conveying hopes for a good year doesn’t end with a word and a hug. We take our wishes for sweet happiness all the way to the kitchen door, where we literally pour it (the sweetness, anyway) into our meal.
So if you’re in the mood to layer a meal with sweet on sweet, start with this prep-ahead chicken and end with a fabulously sticky-sweet Caramelized Apple Tart by the talented pastry chef and author David Lebovitz.
Curried Honey Chicken
Serves 4
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1⁄3 cup olive oil
1⁄4 cup honey
1⁄4 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. curry powder
1⁄2 cup chopped green scallion (discard root, use white and 2-3 inches of green)
half a lime
1⁄4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
Sprinkle chicken generously on all sides with salt and pepper. Whisk together olive oil, honey, mustard, curry and scallion in a bowl. Place chicken breasts in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and pour honey mixture over chicken. Cover pan tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight. Set pan of chicken on the counter to get the chill off while you preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake chicken (covered in foil) for 18 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5-10 more minutes depending on thickness until juices run clear. Let chicken sit for 5-10 minutes. Slice on the diagonal into 1⁄2-inch-thick pieces. Squeeze lime juice over chicken. Arrange on platter and sprinkle with chopped parsley or cilantro.
Caramelized Apple Tart
(From “The Sweet Life in Paris” by David Lebovitz)
Serves 8-10
3⁄4 cup flour
1⁄4 tsp. salt
11⁄2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbs. unsalted butter (or margarine), cut into 1⁄2-inch (2-cm.) cubes and chilled
3 Tbs. ice-cold water
8 firm, tart baking apples
juice of half a lemon
1 Tbs. butter
1⁄2 cup packed dark brown sugar
Combine flour, salt and sugar in food processor or standing mixer. Add butter (or margarine) and mix until it is in pea-size chunks. Stir in cold water and mix just until dough holds together. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. (Dough can be made up to 3 days before using.)
Peel, core and quarter apples. Toss in bowl with lemon juice and set aside. Melt butter in 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Stir in brown sugar and remove from heat. Arrange apple quarters rounded side down in the skillet, tightly packing them in overlapping concentric circles. (Really cram them in. They’ll cook down, so don’t worry.) Cook over medium heat 20-25 minutes. Do not move or stir apples while cooking, but gently press them down with a spatula as they soften.
While apples are cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough on lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Drape dough over apples, tucking in the edges, and bake tart on upper rack of oven until golden brown, 35-40 minutes.
Remove from oven and invert a baking sheet over tart. Carefully flip both skillet and baking sheet simultaneously. Lift off skillet, loosen any apples that may have stuck, and reunite them with the tart.
Josie A.G. Shapiro won the 2013 Man-O Manischewitz Cook-Off, is the co-author of “The Lazy Gourmet” and works at the JCC of San Francisco. Her columns alternate with those of Faith Kramer. Her website is www.thechickencontests.com.