In Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, when Gerda goes in search of Kai, who has been kidnapped by the Snow Queen, she arrives at a curious cottage. The old woman who lives
there insists that she stay and lets her eat as many of the cherries that grow in her orchard as Gerda likes. There are indeed cherries in Denmark, and they are even the central feature of this traditional dish!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken leg quarters
- 2¾ oz butter
- 8 fl oz (1 cup) cherry juice
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp red currant jelly
- 2¼ lb potatoes
- 1 lemon juice
- 9 oz pitted cherries
- Salt and pepper
How to Make It
- In a flameproof casserole dish over high heat, panfry the chicken pieces with half the butter until well-browned on all sides, then add the cherry juice, orange juice, honey, and red currant jelly. Simmer for 25 minutes, spooning the liquid over the chicken at regular intervals.
- Meanwhile, wash and peel the potatoes, then steam them or boil them in salted boiling water for about 25 minutes, until the tip of a sharp knife easily pierces their hearts.
- Remove the chicken from the flameproof casserole dish and set it aside.
- Strain and reserve the sauce and deglaze the casserole dish with the lemon juice, scraping up all the browned bits from the base of the pot. Add the rest of the butter, the chicken, the strained sauce, and the cherries, and cook for another 5 minutes, just long enough to heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve piping hot with the steamed potatoes.
