A jammy, sweet-tart plum sauce steals the show in this skillet chicken

Peaches are the golden child of summer stone fruit season, literally and figuratively. Meanwhile, plums are like the oft-overlooked middle child — rarely in the spotlight but no less deserving of love and attention.

Depending on the variety, plums exist all along the sweet-tart spectrum. The fruit’s skin is high in tannins, which impart the astringent, bitter taste it can be known for — making a plum’s overall flavor more complex and challenging to some. “A ripe plum is rich and seductive, but also ornery,” food writer Max Falkowitz wrote in Taste. “Sweet, to be sure, but with an acidic spark and an astringent bite. Peaches are puppy dogs — sugary and desperate for your love. By contrast, plums are goats that won’t stop chewing on your clothes.”

Nonetheless, they are perfect in their own right. The best fruit isn’t always as sweet as candy — sometimes it has a more subtle appeal with a tart edge. With any ingredient, it’s easiest to embrace it for what it is instead of trying to force it into some mold of what you think it should be. In the case of plums, lean into their astringency, which is a wonderful counterpoint to fatty chicken thighs.

The bone-in, skin-on meat is seasoned with coriander, garlic powder and cinnamon — it’s for more than pie! — before being added to a skillet for the fat to render and the skin to get crisp. Some of the spices get left behind in the pan, rounding the sharper flavors of sliced plums and red onion, which grounds the savoriness. (A splash of balsamic vinegar lends fruity acidity to complement that of the fruit.) Then everything goes into the oven until the chicken thighs are fully cooked and the produce forms a sweet-tart, jammy sauce.

Although chicken gets top billing in the recipe title, this dish is really all about the sauce. I tested it with both red and black plums — red tend to be more sour than black — and I loved the taste of both, so use whatever fruit you’re able to get your hands on. If the sauce is too tart for your liking because of the variety or ripeness of the fruit, balance it with sweetness by adding granulated sugar or honey. As always, it’s your prerogative to adjust any recipe until it tastes good to you.

The finished sauce has a nice pucker with a sweet undercurrent that invites you to take another bite until you savor every last drop. Make sure to pick up a loaf of crusty bread or cook a pot of grains to go with it, or you may find yourself licking the plate at the dinner table.

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Skillet Chicken Thighs With Plums

¾ teaspoon fine salt, divided

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (2 to 2½ pounds total), trimmed of excess fat, if desired

1 tablespoon neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable

1 pound red or black plums, pitted and cut into wedges

1 large red onion (9 ounces), halved and sliced

¾ cup no-salt-added or low-sodium chicken broth or stock

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Crusty bread or cooked grains, for serving

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F.

In a small bowl, combine ½ teaspoon of the salt, the cinnamon, coriander, garlic powder and pepper. Pat the chicken dry and sprinkle both sides with the seasoning mixture. Set a large plate next to the stove.

In a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Arrange the chicken skin side down in the skillet, and cook until the skin renders its fat and browns, about 7 minutes. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side, about 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the plate.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the plums, onion and the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the broth and vinegar, and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet, until the liquid reduces by about half, 3 to 5 minutes. Return the chicken, along with any accumulated juices, to the skillet, nestling it into the mixture skin side up.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone should register at least 165°F). Serve hot, with bread or cooked grains.

4 servings

Substitutions: For chicken thighs, use chicken breasts, with an adjustment to the cooking time. For plums, use other stone fruit. For red onion, use any type of onion. For balsamic vinegar, use red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar.

Nutrition | Per serving: 622 calories, 20g carbohydrates, 200mg cholesterol, 44g fat, 3g fiber, 37g protein, 12g saturated fat, 607mg sodium, 14g sugar

— Aaron Hutcherson