5 Ingredients or Fewer

Apple and Onion Schmaltz

by:
October 30, 2014
4
3 Ratings
Apple and Onion Schmaltz
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 1 pint
What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Fat and excess skin from one chicken (cut it out from the opening of the cavity and also remove it from the bottom of the carcass after you break the chicken into pieces)
  • 1 small, tart apple, unpeeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 small yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Place the fat and skin in a medium saucepan and render over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the skin is golden and crispy.
  2. Add chopped apple, onion, and thyme and continue to cook over medium heat until onions are caramelized and deeply golden and apples are very soft and falling apart.
  3. Remove the thyme stem (its leaves should have fallen off).
  4. Remove from heat and blitz this mixture with a hand blender until it’s a thick, uniform paste.
  5. Allow this mixture to cool completely in the refrigerator. Transfer it to a stand mixer and whip it with the whisk attachment until it's light and fluffy like whipped butter.
  6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then spread it on everything.
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  • mizerychik
    mizerychik
  • Daniel Willig
    Daniel Willig
  • rinamay
    rinamay
  • Cara Nicoletti
    Cara Nicoletti
Cara Nicoletti
Cara Nicoletti is a butcher and writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Cara started working in restaurants when she moved to New York in 2004, and was a baker and pastry chef for several years before following in her grandfather and great-grandfathers' footsteps and becoming a butcher. She is the writer behind the literary recipe blog, Yummy-Books.com, and author of Voracious, which will be published by Little, Brown in 2015. She is currently a whole-animal butcher and sausage-making teacher at The Meat Hook in Williamsburg.

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10 Reviews

mizerychik
mizerychik March 13, 2016
This sounds delicious. I always render the fat out of excess chicken skin and use it for eggs the next morning, but I'm looking forward to doing something different.
 
Daniel W.
Daniel W. November 9, 2014
Can this be made the day before serving or is it better fresh?
 
rinamay
rinamay November 5, 2014
In step one, can we use the fat and skin from a cooked chicken? or do we remove the fat and skin from a raw chicken? I've never cooked chicken fat and chicken skin before. Thank-you.
 
Cara N.
Cara N. November 5, 2014
Hi there! You're removing the excess raw skin and fat from the raw chicken carcass and cooking it down in a pot until the fat is rendered out and the skin is crispy, make sense?
 
rinamay
rinamay November 5, 2014
Yes it does make sense. I am going to try the recipe this weekend. Thank-you!
 
Cara N.
Cara N. November 6, 2014
wonderful, let me know how it turns out!
 
JaneMiami
JaneMiami November 5, 2014
My mouth is watering! This reminds me of the goose fat schmaltz that we made traditionally after Christmas, in Europe. When I make it, however, I like to caramelize the onion separately and then add little cubes of tart apple. Spread on toasted bread & sprinkle with smoked sea salt. Never thought of making it this way, whipped. Can't wait to try it!
 
Cara N.
Cara N. November 5, 2014
that sounds amazing! to be honest, I usually eat this still warm from the pot because I can't resist, but the whipping makes it go further (and look prettier!)
 
frank
frank November 5, 2014
I bet that is delectable. So you leave the skin in before you blend it?
 
Cara N.
Cara N. November 5, 2014
yes! cook the fat and the skin down until the skin crisps up, and then it all gets blended up.