Spatchcocked Sheet-Pan “Tzimmes” Chicken

And reflections on resilience...

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Rosh Hashanah is here, beginning Wednesday night. And unlike previous Septembers of menu planning and book launches,this year I must confess to an oversized helping of ambivalence about celebrating this typically happy, honey-dipped holiday. 

A year ago at this time I was traveling around the United States and Canada, introducing the Shabbat cookbook to a growing community and celebrating vibrant food culture that has coalesced around the Jewish Sabbath over thousands of years. It was a joyous and, looking back, simple time. 

This year, there is a lot to feel bittersweet about. 

101 hostages remain in Gaza, people are suffering throughout this region, and the political stakes seem to get higher every week with the escalation of regional conflict. The uncertainty, fear, and heartbreak remain, and yet every day I see reasons for hope as I mimic the resilience of those who have it far worse than I do. I have met many members of hostage families, and their strength and ability to fight on when all hope may seem lost shows me the meaning of grit and bravery. I have watched as they make sure their loved ones aren’t forgotten, and battle for their return. Their fight informs my necessity for hope when it sometimes feels easier to double down on cynicism. 

This year on Wednesday night I am going to light an extra candle for the hostages, and I encourage you to do the same. I am going to prepare foods that reinforce all of the things I love about being Jewish, the traditions passed down to me by my family and the new ones I am creating in my adopted home. 

I am making brisket–I haven’t decided between the two recipes in my Shabbat cookbook, one braised in fig and pomegranate, the other a more traditional brown sugar/tomato flavor profile. There will be my mother’s vegetable kugel, and her apple kuchen (many of these recipes can be found over at my Website), a sort of drop-biscuity cake that’s a distant cousin of the famous Marian Burros plum cake from the New York Times. 

I even found the time to create a new recipe, one I road-tested today to very good reviews. Jay’s son, Nadav, and our friend Karen have been sleeping over to be close to a safe room when the next missile finds its way into our airspace. So I made this chicken today, and Jay and Nadav loved it. The vegetables, dried fruit and orange juice and zest mimic the flavors of a traditional tzimmes, a dish often served on Rosh Hashanah. When roasted, the spice-rubbed, spatchcocked chicken lends its schmaltzy goodness to the proceedings, adding rich flavor and additional moisture to the veggies. A thinly sliced lemon and its zest add, well, Israeliness. As my husband, Jay, always says: “Limon mosif hamon” (“Lemon adds a lot”). Here’s to a happier year, to one with a glimmer of hope. I’m here to remind you that you’re allowed. 

Spatchcocked Sheet-Pan “Tzimmes” Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

1 small lemon

1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and very thinly sliced into long batons

1 red onion, thinly sliced

½ cup golden raisins

10 pitted prunes

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

Juice and zest of 1 small orange (1 tablespoon zest, ½ cup juice)

¼ cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish

3 tablespoons honey

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne

One 4-pound chicken, spatchcocked*

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Zest the lemon into a bowl and reserve. Slice the lemon into the thinnest rounds you can (a sharp knife helps with this). Arrange the lemon slices, carrots, onions, raisins, prunes and orange zest on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with  ½ teaspoon salt and toss to coat; spread evenly over the sheet pan and add the orange juice to the sheet pan.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the honey evenly across the sheet. Place the garlic and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt on a cutting board and use pressure applied to the heel of a chef’s knife to smash and spread the garlic and salt into a paste. Scrape into the bowl with the reserved lemon zest and add the sweet and smoked paprikas and cayenne. Stir until combined.

Rub the spice paste all over the chicken and set, it breast side up, on top of the vegetables, Roast until the vegetables are caramelized, the legs can be easily jiggled on the chicken, and the juices run clear when the breast meat is pierced with a wooden skewer, 55 to 60 minutes. Drizzle the chicken with the remaining tablespoon honey, cut into pieces, and garnish with more parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

*To spatchcock a chicken: Arrange a whole chicken breast side down on a cutting board. Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone, then flip flip the chicken over and press down on the breast to flatten.