Broiled Chicken with Onion & Apples

I felt ambitious today, so I thought I’d try a new recipe for dinner. Thanks to an old issue of House Beautiful, I got a sneak peek at Rocco DiSpirito’s cookbook, “Rocco Gets Real.” It features everyday, easy and delicious recipes supposedly anyone can make. If the recipe I tried is any indication of how the rest of the book is, it might be worth me getting!

Here’s the recipe with some of my own tried and true commentary (in italics):

BROILED CHICKEN LEGS WITH ONIONS, APPLES & CHUNKY LEMON-PEPPER SAUCE

• 2½ pounds chicken legs
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 large Vidalia onions, peeled
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
• 2 tablespoons Bertolli extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 10-ounce jar Tabasco Spicy Red Pepper Jelly
• 3 lemons
• Fresh coarsely ground black pepper

Preheat broiler on low. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken in center of pan. (I used two chicken leg quarters.)

Cut each onion into 12 thin wedges. Scatter onions and apples around chicken. (I actually ended up using only 1 onion and 1 Granny Smith apple.)

Drizzle everything with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil 10 minutes. Turn chicken over and stir apples and onions to expose uncooked surfaces. Turn broiler on high. Broil until chicken is charred and cooked through, about another 10 minutes. (I checked the chicken at 10 minutes and it was still unfinished, so I broiled it another 10 minutes to get that pretty crisp look.)

Meanwhile, heat pepper jelly in a small saucepan until melted. (I could not find pepper jelly to save my life – and I checked three stores! I ended up buying a chili pepper hoagie mix. I guess it worked OK. The boy liked it!) Peel the lemons and remove the pith. Dice the lemons, reserving the juice. Remove jelly from heat; add diced lemon and juice. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon sauce on top of chicken, onions, and apples and top with fresh coarse-ground pepper.

I served this alongside stove-top, stir-fried green beans. I’ll definitely be trying this recipe again. It was so light and even on my diet – I could eat it!

Just see how much I can accomplish when I put my mind to it! LOL