You’re probably in turkey mode right now and couldn’t care less about my pitiful chicken story but I simply refuse to start posting about Thanksgiving yet. So I’m serving you some chicken today. Doesn’t it look good?

This ain’t ordinary chicken, this is Joe the chicken. Joe the chicken was about to purchase a plumbing business but was wondering if the $250,000 a year business would put him in a tax bracket that … err… sorry! I’m mixing up stories again… I’m suffering from post-electum depression!

Here’s the story, my butcher hired a new worker named Sergio. I called him the other day to ask him to send me a small turkey – until now simple enough, right?… Wrong! Sergio thought chickens were in fact… small turkeys, so instead of my small turkey I got delivered.. you guessed it – a big chicken! err.. Isn’t it the ultimate insult for a chicken to be mistaken for a turkey?

I wasn’t too happy about it but i decided to honor my big chicken anyway by making a delicious Honey-Glazed chicken with Quinces and Apples. This is a straightforward chicken saute where the combination of cider vinegar and honey blends the sauce, glaze the chicken and give the dish a tart-sweet edge that echoes the essence of the quince. Served over fresh pasta… un regal!

As for Sergio, I covered his ass and kept the mistake from his boss although i couldn’t resist to stop by the butcher shop the next day to discretely give him some ‘perspective’ and words of encouragement. I think it went like this:

“Eres mas pendejo que un culo de chango!” (you’re more stupid than a monkey’s ass!)
I thought it meant something like keep up the good work, no really… i did! To which the feisty little bastard answered:

“Vuelves a Francia, cabrón!” (Go back to France, a**hole!)I love these guys!

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 large quince, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons XV olive oil
• one 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
• 12 cippolini onions, peeled and trimmed
• pinch of sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup good chicken stock

• Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil in a medium pot. Add 1 tablespoon of the cider vinegar and the quince and boil gently for 10 minutes. Drain the quince well and set aside to cool, pat dry. Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add the pieces to the pan. Brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and reserve.

• Pour the excess fat from the pan and add the onions, sugar, cinnamon and rosemary to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and brown the onions evenly, 8 to 10 minutes.

• Return the chicken to the pan along with the quincs, apples and honey. Turn to coat the ingredients with the honey. Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes to caramelize everything. Add the remaining 1/2 cup cider vinegar, stirring and scraping up any bits.

• Slide the pan into the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to the stovetop again, turn the heat to medium, and add chicken stock, bring to a boil. Stir to blend.

• Discard the cinnamon and spoon out the chicken, fruit, and sauce and serve over fresh egg noodles. Enjoy!