Chicken with Clementines, Dates, and Capers
Plus: The Four Questions with Hot Sheet's Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine
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Every year I feel like Passover sneaks up on me. This year, with the holiday arriving so late in the spring, there’s really no excuse for my shock—and yet somehow I feel even less prepared than usual. By which I mean: the first seder is a week from yesterday and my family has neither 1. cleaned out our kitchen of chametz 2. purchased anything Passover-y. (Deep breaths. Deep breaths.)
I know everything will get done in time—it always does. Plus, we are spending the first two nights at my in-laws’, which means I don’t have the joyful burden of seder prep. But it still. feels. like. a. lot.
If your freezer is already stocked with matzo lasagna, matzo ball soup, and chocolate marzipan balls, then I salute you. Or if you are one of my readers who does not observe Passover, then happy Tuesday! But if you are a fellow last-minute Passover scrambler, I promise you are not alone.
To get you started, I am sharing a gorgeous recipe for Chicken with Clementines, Dates, and Capers from the new cookbook, Hot Sheet: Sweet and Savory Sheet Pan Recipes for Every Day and Celebrations by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine. It is an absolute showstopper of a dish (I mean, just *look* at it), filled with texture, color, and flavor that will wow your seder guests…or yourself as a weeknight meal during the holiday. And it is made entirely on a sheet pan.
Below the recipe, you can find The Four Questions Interview with Olga and Sanaë. It was a lovely and information-packed conversation, so don’t miss it!
For more Passover inspiration, I’ve shared some seder resources below the interview, because we need them more than ever this year. And don’t forget to check The Jewish Table’s Passover recipe archive for more ideas.
Chicken with Clementines, Dates, and Capers
Passover recipe notes: If you don’t use mustard or fennel seeds on Passover (which are both considered kitniyot), you can omit them. The dish will still have plenty of flavor! And if you can’t find kosher for Passover-certified capers, substitute the best quality green olives you can find.
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) dry white wine (or half fresh orange juice and half fresh lemon juice)
3 tablespoons silan (date syrup)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds (1.4 kg) bone-in, skin-on chicken (thighs, drumsticks, or a whole chicken cut up)
1 pound (453 g) cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets (optional)
4 small clementines, unpeeled and sliced 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
1 fennel bulb, trimmed but core left intact, and cut into wedges 1/4 inch thick
1 medium red onion, trimmed but root left intact, and cut into wedges 1/4 inch thick
7 Medjool dates, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for serving
In a large bowl, whisk together the orange juice, oil, wine, silan, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper until combined. Add the chicken, cauliflower (if using), clementines, fresh fennel, onion, dates, capers, thyme, fennel seeds, and coriander seeds and stir with your hands to ensure the chicken and vegetables are well coated in the marinade. Set aside while you preheat the oven. (For more flavor, and if you have time, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.)
When ready to roast, position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450°F (230°C). Transfer the chicken, vegetables, and any accumulated juices, to one or two half-sheet pans (see Hot Tip! below) and arrange in a single layer. (Make sure the chicken is facing skin side up.)
Roast for about 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (and registers 165°F/75°C on an instant-read thermometer) and the vegetables are tender and starting to caramelize in places.
You can serve the chicken as is, with the pan juices, or opt to reduce the sauce. To do so, transfer the chicken to a serving platter, cover, and keep warm. Strain the sauce into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer and cook until reduced by one-third, about 1/2 cup (120 ml). Pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve.
HOT TIP! If you have too much stuff to fit on a single half-sheet pan without steaming, divide the chicken and vegetables between two half-sheet pans and position two racks in the middle and lower third of the oven. Or simply keep the cauliflower separate from the outset, toss it with olive oil and a little salt and pepper, and roast on the lower rack. While roasting, switch racks and rotate the sheet pans front to back to ensure even cooking throughout.
This recipe is from Hot Sheet, by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine, 2024. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
The Four Questions Interview: Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine
Welcome to the latest installment of The Four Questions, The Jewish Table’s semi-regular interview segment featuring Jewish food luminaries. This week I’m thrilled to be joined by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine, co-authors of Hot Sheet: Sweet and Savory Sheet Pan Recipes for Every Day and Celebrations. (“Hot Sheet” is my current favorite cookbook title—and quite possibly my favorite cookbook title of all time.)
Olga is a Washington DC-based editor and contributor at The Washington Post’s Food section, and the co-author of several cookbooks. Sanaë is a Brooklyn-based novelist (The Margot Affair) and former cookbook editor. They are two of the most eloquent and elegantly chic people I know. And they are incredible editors, recipe-developers, and writers, both. I absolutely love that they wrote a sheet pan cookbook that expand’s the fashionable cooking method’s relevance beyond weeknight dinners (though many of the book’s recipes are simple enough for everyday) and onto the holiday/celebratory table.
Olga and Sanaë spoke about the process of co-writing a cookbook (virtually!), shared their favorite sheet pan-cooking tricks (including one that I couldn’t believe I’d never thought of), and mused on their connections to Jewish food. The depth of their friendship—and their shared love for food and cooking—shines through in every word.
What drew you both to sheet pan cooking? And what do you hope Hot Sheet adds to the conversation?
Olga Massov: The idea germinated at the beginning of the pandemic. That first year we were bouncing ideas around at the Post about how to do holidays that year—when there were no vaccines yet and nobody was going anywhere. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I was feeling grumpy about not having a big, full table. After stewing for a bit, I ended up saying, “You know what? I’m just going to roast a duck and some potatoes on a sheet pan for my family. It will be beautiful and special even without a crowd—because no one is going to take that away from me.”
I brought the idea up to the team, and they thought it would be great to do a whole sheet pan Thanksgiving issue. It felt really natural, and we ended up helping readers celebrate without cooking a million courses. It got me thinking about what else I could do on a sheet pan—not just for a low-lift weeknight dinner, but for the holidays. I thought, surely there’s a cookbook like that out there. But I couldn’t find one that shifted the conversation away from weeknights.
I started talking with Sanaë about it, and she sent me so many fantastic ideas that I thought, “We have to do this together.” I have a Russian American Jewish cultural food background and Sanaë is French and Japanese—so combined, we have all these different angles and viewpoints to bring to the table. We also love each other’s food and talk about food for hours. It was a natural collaboration.
Sanaë Lemoine: I feel like I fell into this book! We’d been friends for a year and a half after meeting at Phaidon as cookbook editors. As Olga was saying, we had this symbiotic relationship when it comes to food. When we talk about a recipe, we are always on the same page. At a restaurant, we usually want to order the same thing.
I was deep in fiction writing, and never thought about writing a cookbook. But one day Olga came to me, and I immediately loved the idea. She shared a spreadsheet, so I started commenting on her ideas and adding my own. When she asked me to co-write it, I said at first, “You’re so silly, you don’t need me.” I also know how difficult it can be to sell a cookbook. I thought it was a brilliant idea, but what were the odds that it would get picked up by a publisher? I was shocked that the book we were envisioning did not exist. And I’m so glad she persisted.
Tell me about the process of writing a cookbook together. Feel free to spill: Was there any drama?
OM: There was absolutely no drama!
SL: What was really helpful was the fact that we both have similar professional backgrounds in terms of cookbook editing. We may have grown up with different backgrounds and eating different cuisines, but we have similar skill sets. We are both perfectionists and eagle-eyed about everything. We ended up being on the same page in terms of structure and what to include and dividing up roles. The creation of the book was so seamless, which is rare!
OM: Both of us were very conscious about having the book be a true partnership. We were really careful about having roughly the same number of recipes that came from me or Sanaë. There were times during the process where we were collectively pulling our hair out, but this book was like our baby that we nurtured. We wanted it to shine.
SL: It takes so much work to write a cookbook! It felt like a gift to have a partner that was invested in it as much as I was.
What are one or two killer sheet pan techniques you learned during the cookbook writing process?
SL: Covering a sheet pan with another sheet pan! There are a couple of recipes in the book where you cover a sheet pan with a second inverted sheet pan. It fits perfectly and creates a little lid that allows things like rice to steam. It is so obvious, but it was something I had never previously thought of doing.
OM: One trick I learned from watching Ina Garten. When she roasts something on a sheet pan, she drizzles the pan with oil, spreads it around, and then sprinkles it lightly with salt. Then she adds whatever she is roasting to the sheet pan and repeats the process. That way things get consistently seasoned on the bottom without having to toss the ingredients or get your hands dirty.
Tell me a bit about your relationship to Jewish food, and how has it evolved over time?
OM: Most Friday nights, my family has Shabbat dinner. It’s very simple—sometimes it’s a sheet pan quesadilla, sometimes it’s roast chicken. Fridays after a long week can be a hot mess. And I usually don’t want to cook, but Shabbat dinner is such a cozy way to bookend a week—and my son Avi really likes it. Making things on a sheet pan I can get everything done in an hour, which makes the process more palatable. Then we can focus on the comfort of the routine, the traditions, and the time spent together as a family
SL: Your challah is so delicious, Olga! I can’t wait to have it again some day. My dad is French and my mom is Japanese, but we moved to Australia when I was four. Our neighbors were Jewish and they adopted us into their home. Every Friday night we’d go to their place for dinner.
My mom was very strict about food when I was growing up—no sugar, no refined or processed foods, no dairy. I was macrobiotic for much of my childhood. But Shabbat dinner was an exception because we were guests. That was my introduction to Jewish food. I have such vivid and warm memories of those Friday night dinners. I’d overeat and feel so full in every way.
2024 Seder Resources
Each year on Passover, we ask the question, “How is this night different than all other nights?” But that question takes on a different layer of meaning in 2024—a year that is wildly different than other years in recent memory.
If you are feeling anxiety around how to lead or navigate a seder in light of the continuing/escalating horrors in the Middle East…or if you are looking for inspiration for how to show up to your family’s seder with your heart full of both righteous anger and/or fear, but also compassion and empathy, here are a few resources that I hope will help. Please feel free to share other resources in the comments.
How to Host a Seder When Everyone is Talking Past Each Other and Strongly Disagrees About the War — By: Rabbi Jay Michaelson (Source: Forward)
How to Talk About the Elephant in the Room at This Year’s Seder — By: Rabbi Amy Eilberg (Source: J: The Jewish News of Northern California)
The Passover Seder Reminds Us that a Better World is Possible — by Rabbi Steven Philp (Source: Hey Alma)
Thank you for these readings Leah. And for a food question - do you have a favorite potato kugel recipe?
I saw clementines at the grocery store and even though it's not Passover yet.. I am making this for dinner tonight for some friends. For Passover resources look at sefaria.org one of the most powerful Jewish innovation of the century. Chag sameach and thank you for The Jewish Table! The question is not why is this night different from all other nights but why is this year different for Jews around the world?