Today’s kosher cooking is spicier and bolder than the food most of us grew up eating, with an emphasis on fresh and seasonal ingredients, less processed foods and healthier non-dairy alternatives. Chanie Apfelbaum, the blogger behind Busy in Brooklyn, has created a delicious collection of modern, cultural, trendy and bold dishes that reflect her passion for reinventing traditional foods with a modern vibe with her debut cookbook, “Millennial Kosher: Recipes Reinvented for the Modern Palate.”
For the High Holidays, Chanie recommends this recipe to celebrate the sweetness of life. “I’m proud to say that this recipe hooked hundreds of people onto the Middle Eastern spice blend za’atar,” she says. “I use it on pita chips, roasted chickpeas, hummus, shakshuka and garlic confit.”
Honey Roasted Za’atar Chicken With Dried Fruit
Serves 4 to 5
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dried apricots (scant 2 cups)
- 10 ounces pitted dried prunes (scant 2 cups)
- 3 tablespoons za’atar
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 chicken legs, skin on
- ½ cup dry red wine
- Kosher salt, to taste
- ⅓ cup honey
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread apricots and prunes into a 9×13-inch pan.
- In a bowl, combine za’atar and olive oil to create a paste. Rub the za’atar paste over chicken; place chicken on dried fruit. Pour wine around the chicken; sprinkle with salt.
- Cover tightly with foil; bake for 1 hour.
- Uncover the pan. Drizzle the chicken with honey. Bake, uncovered, for an additional 30-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with the pan juices.
Recipe and photo reprinted with permission from “Millennial Kosher” by Chanie Apfelbaum, Artscroll/Shaar, April 2018.