Apple Stuffed Chicken

Thanksgiving. The full house: David and Karen with Teddy, Anna, and James; Sarah and Tom with Ben and Lucy. Nine of us, twelve if you count Frost, who counts himself. Helen has been in the kitchen since Tuesday. I have been peeling potatoes and staying out of her way, which is my assigned role and which I have performed faithfully for thirty-eight Thanksgivings.

I am not allowed in the kitchen during Thanksgiving preparations with two exceptions: I peel the potatoes, and I remove the bag of giblets from the turkey, which Helen reminds me of annually and which I always remember. I have never forgotten the giblets. This is important. I am a man who does not forget the giblets.

The turkey is from the farm in Charlotte. Helen brines it overnight in a salt-and-cider solution she has been refining for twenty years. I have offered to help with the brining. She has always declined. Some processes belong to their owner and should not be diluted by committee.

The table extended with both leaves in. The children at one end, which is chaotic but honest. There is no age at which children should be required to sit still at Thanksgiving, and anyone who disagrees has forgotten what it was to be eight. Teddy sat with the adults this year for the first time, which pleased him visibly and which he tried to look casual about, which he could not. He is going to be a man who cares about things but pretends he does not, which is the most Bergstrom outcome I could have hoped for.

I wrote a blog post this week about the Thanksgiving turkey — not a recipe, but about using Helen's recipe card. About the margin notes that accumulate over twenty years: adjustments, the year she added an apple in the cavity, the year the brining time was wrong and the turkey too salty. A recipe card is a record of mistakes and improvements. It is a history of a kitchen. Helen read the post and said it was good and that I should mention the turkey smells like the best thing in the world for the last two hours of cooking. I added that line. She was right. Frost got the turkey neck. Some traditions require no documentation.

Helen’s margin note — added apple to cavity, remarkable — is the kind of thing that deserves its own recipe. We don’t always have a twenty-pound farm turkey and a three-day brine, but we do often have a Tuesday and a hungry house, and this Apple Stuffed Chicken is the weeknight version of that same instinct: that a piece of fruit tucked inside a bird does something warm and right to the whole meal. I made it the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when the house was quiet again and Frost was still hoping for leftovers, and it held up every bit of what the week had been about.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium apple (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and diced small
1/4 cup crumbled sharp cheddar or Gruyère cheese
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep horizontal pocket into the thickest side of each breast, being careful not to cut all the way through.
Make the filling. In a small bowl, combine diced apple, cheese, dried cranberries, thyme, cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine.
Stuff the chicken. Divide the filling evenly among the four pockets, pressing it in gently. Secure each opening with one or two toothpicks. Season the outside of each breast with the remaining salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Sear. Heat olive oil and butter in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter foams, add the stuffed chicken breasts and sear for 3–4 minutes per side until golden brown.
Roast. Add chicken broth to the skillet and transfer to the preheated oven. Roast for 22–26 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165°F.
Rest and serve. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before removing toothpicks and slicing. Spoon any pan juices over the top before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple Stuffed Chicken — The Year Helen Added the Apple