Chicken Granny Smith Apples Recipe
Chicken Granny Smith Apples
Granny smith apple is the star of this rustic and delicious Classic French dish.
You will love the crunch and tang of granny smith apples, and the great pairing with chicken! Be sure to use (green) granny smith apples, as their crisp texture will stand up to the sauteing, and their tang will add a wonderful layer of flavor in the finished dish.
Hard cider is a widely popular French drink:
It gives the dish its originality and is easy to find in better markets and grocery stores. Hard cider is a fermented and carbonated drink made from apples (sometimes with pears, but most often with apples), and has a light alcoholic content, on average about 5-6 degrees, like beer. You are in for a treat, so please do not forgo the cider or the liqueur. It’s all about doubling up on the apple flavors.
I have streamlined the recipe from my latest cookbook, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple.even further, and made it even more enticing, as I make sure to leave the chicken skin crisp, with a simple trick: I never let the cooking liquids come up to the seared skin. Very easy to accomplish, you will see in the instructions.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 granny smith apples, peels on, cut in wedges
- 2 tablespoons sugar or Sucanat
- Zest of 2 lemons
- A dozen chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- 3 large shallots, minced
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 bottle hard cider (it comes in the same size as wine: 750 ml)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons Calvados, applejack, or slivovitz
Instructions
Heat the oil in a heavy, wide-bottom pot. Leave the flame on medium high. Add the apples and sauté until golden. Add the sugar and lemon peel, and cook 2 more minutes until caramelized. Remove the mixture and set aside.
In the same pot, brown the chicken thighs skin side down until the skin is golden and crisp. Turn the thighs skin side up. Add the shallots and saute 1-2 more minutes until the shallots are fragrant.
Add the turmeric, cider and cinnamon, and bring to a boil. If you selected a wide bottom pot, the cider doesn’t reach up the the skin. This is how you will ensure that the skin is nice and crisp.
Reduce the flame to medium and cook covered for about 45 minutes. Add the reserved apples, ground pepper and Calvados, and cook a few minutes more until just heated through. Transfer the chicken and apples to a platter with a slotted spoon, and check the sauce. If it is too thin, reduce on a high flame just 2-3 minutes until syrupy. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve hot, with rice, puréed vegetables, or noodles on the side. Makes 8 servings.
I understand. But I have never seen hard cider with a hechsher outside of Israel and the U.K.
What brands of hard cider are kosher? Thanks!
yocheved You will see at our local market what brands they have. I don’t like to list brand names as my readers live literally all over the world, and all it would do is cause confusion.
How much cider should be used? How big a bottle?
Fern They are the size of a bottle of wine. Standard size. 750 ml
What’s hard cider? Is it alcoholic? Can I use something else instead of the alcohol you suggest as I don’t have either of those? Thanks
Rahel Many people are asking your question, which prompts me to add a description right on my post. It will be on in just a few minutes