Chicken with Quince

Sat. 3 March
We bought a quince at Findlay Market, purely on spec. We had no idea what to do with it, but the literary associations (Shakespeare, Wallace Stevens, not to mention the Owl and the Pussycat) made it irresistible.
By coincidence, Barbara had picked up Claudia Roden's new book, Arabesque, at the library, which contained numerous recipes (just look for the picture of the quince on the cover). So from something simple to something very complex.
The quince turns out to be something like a pear that registers 9.5 on Moh's scale.

Here's how to prepare the quince. Boil it in water to cover for an hour. No, really, an hour. Then when it's cooled, cut in quarters, and cut out the still rock hard center (just as you would for an apple or a pear). Cut the quarters into 2 or 3 slices each. Fry in butter for about 2 minutes on each cut side until lightly browned. It's surprisingly aromatic, somewhere between Pears and Roses (our new rock group).
Now for the chicken.
We did this with 4 drumsticks and 2 thighs from a mutant chicken. Okay, a couple of packages of parts we had frozen.
1/2 lb. smallish shallots, peeled (don't cut in half!)
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp saffron
1 TBSP honey
Fry the onion in a little plain oil, on medium, till brown.
Stir fry the spices for a minute.
Add the chicken, and brown on all sides.
Add the peeled shallots.
Add 1 cup water.
Cook about 30 minutes, until the chicken is done (160º is the best internal temp. for chickens), flipping chicken bits half-way through.
Uncover, reduce sauce and add the honey.
Add fresh ground black pepper to balance the honey (taste after each addition).
Serve topped with the fried quinces (which we mentioned first, cuz it takes an hour, no really, an hour, to boil a quince).
Divine on a divan.
Add jug of wine, loaf of bread, thou.