I love Melissa Clark‘s books. Melissa is a well seasoned writer with 29 books to her credit, many of those written in collaboration with some of the top chefs and food personalities in the country. She also currently writes my favorite weekly column in the New York Times called A Good Appetite.
Her new book In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite is full of wonderful recipes, and the stories revolving around their creation. The recipes in this book are simple, delicious and definitely fall into the realm of comfort foods. I do have to admit, this book won me over with the section dedicated to “Better Fried” food. I love anything fried and it shows 
Border’s Media produced a couple of great cooking videos that you can view here. One of those videos is for the recipe that follows.
I chose to share the Roasted Chicken Thighs with Apples, Gin, and Coriander Seeds. It is one of those dishes that takes just a small amount of time to prep, and takes only minutes to finish in the oven. It is fragrant and delicious.
Roasted Chicken Thighs with Apples, Gin, and Coriander Seeds:
Recipe printed by permission of Melissa Clark
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 small apples
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch strips
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white vermouth
1 1/2 teaspoons gin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, dill, or parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Crust bread or rice for serving
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Core the apples and slice them as thinly as you can (somewhere between 1/8 & 1/4 inches if fine)
2. In a 9 x 13 inch pan toss in all the ingredients except 1 tablespoon cilantro (or dill or parsley). Spread the ingredients out into one layer in the pan. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the apples have softened, about 20 minutes. Garnish with the remaining cilantro, dill or parsley. The sauce will be thin, so serve with crusty bread to sop up the sauce, or over rice
Starting June 1st, a dozen writers are joining me as regular bloggers on Book End Babes. We’re calling them the Bookettes. Kind of like the Rockettes, only with books. I’m sure we’re going to have lots of high-kicks and hijinks as we share book and author news, reviews, interviews and essays with you on the blog. I’m excited to expand our reach and continue to build the community at Book End Babes. To celebrate, we’ll be giving away a book every Friday in June.
Our September Top Pick author 
For book lovers, the Internet is a 24/7 playground. We can shop to our heart’s content, visit authors web sites and lap up book reviews on dozens of great sites by journalists and bloggers. I started Athena’s Bookshelf more than a year ago as a way to recommend reads for women, but something didn’t seem right. Something was missing. As I do with most ideas, I let it sit on the bench at recess and when the idea was there, we could play ball. The missing ingredient wasn’t on the Internet; it was in real life. What was missing for me was the visceral. I needed to see my friends, share a drink and discuss books, but it had to be fun, fun, fun. I wanted to combine the beauty of the Internet with 3D laughter, not just LOLs on the screen.