Weeknight Dinner: Cider-Braised Chicken
Autumn is a glorious time for celebrating the sacred details of daily living. Whether it’s for pleasure or chores, a walk turns into an adventure by the simple act of being outside. Crisp breezes tease around shoulders comforted by well-worn flannel. Leaf-shedding trees are bursting into autumn’s showstopping palate of brown, gold, russet, orange and amber while conifers are sprucing up to show off sturdy vistas of evergreen. A hot coffee beckons at the corner coffeehouse as we go about our errands, perhaps attended by a slice of spicy coffee cake or flavorful quick bread.
Back home, summer’s play clothes are folded away for the last time this season. Sweaters are unfolded and inspected. Woolens that are stored effectively should exhibit no nibble holes from the hungry mandibles of moths. Blankets and comforters are shaken from cedar chests and refreshed by an afternoon in that cool autumn breeze. We clean and store the beach towels and make a mental note that soon it will be time to inspect the Thanksgiving linens. We visit with our houseplants as we refresh their top soil. As good plant parents, we want to help these members of our families prepare for overwintering.
The end of the day when we change over the home from summer to autumn begs for a cozy meal. At Urban Home Blog, autumn weeknight dinner menus include an aromatic roasted pork loin served with warm apples, a woodsy plank of salmon served with olives and potatoes, and a big bowl of beef stew brewed with beer and onions. This year, our signature weeknight dinner for the autumn season is a plate of fragrant sautéed chicken, served with a quick, flavorful pan sauce made with herbs and apple cider.
Apple cider is the official drink of autumn. We serve it hot and spicy from ladles and scoop it thick and sweet onto our toast, so it seems a natural progression to cook a meal with it. I thought I was so smart to cook with cider, but a spot check of two volumes in the Homekeeper’s Library of vintage cookbooks confirms that a cider pan sauce or glaze is a long-establishing cooking practice. Both The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook (1950) and Farm Journal's Country Cookbook (1939) use apple cider to create a glaze for holiday ham and roasted vegetables and as an ingredient to replace the wine or beer in beef stew.
Here is my original recipe for an autumnal dinner of cider-braised chicken. As is typical for most stovetop braises, the chicken is briefly sauteed before the vegetables -- in this case the small flat Italian onions known as Cipollini, which agree with the sweet-savory character of the dish -- are added to the pan along with the braising liquid. It’s a simple preparation, which is as welcome after a day of doing chores as will be the orchard fragrance it releases as it braises on the stovetop. Serve your cider-braised chicken with roasted vegetables, a plate of biscuits and cold ale.
CIDER-BRAISED CHICKEN
Most cooks prefer to buy a whole chicken and cut it up themselves, but you can have the butcher prepare two breasts and four thighs for a braise. Cipollini onions are available at farmer’s markets and in the produce section of larger supermarkets. If you can’t get cipollini onions, use pearl onions. This recipe serves four.
4 halves from 2 whole bone-in chicken breasts, preferably organic
4 bone-in chicken thighs, preferably organic
1 pound cipollini onions
2 medium cloves garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup cake flour
1 cup apple cider
3 tablespoons brandy
2 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1. Unwrap the chicken pieces and rinse under cool water. Pat dry with clean paper towels. Place the chicken pieces on a heatproof platter. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and several grindings fresh black pepper. Lightly cover the chicken with a piece of parchment paper. Set the covered chicken aside to rest while you prepare the onions and the flour mixture.
2. Fill a saucepan halfway with water. Place the pan on the burner and turn the heat to high. Fill a bowl halfway with cold water; add ice to the bowl.
3. Once the water in the saucepan is boiling, add the onions to the boiling water. Cook just until the onion skins start crackling, 1 minute.
4. Turn off the burner. Drain the onions into a colander and then transfer the onions to the iced water. Use your hands to stir the onions in the iced water. When the onions feel cool to the touch, drain the onions into the colander.
5. Measure the cake flour, dried rubbed sage, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, a good shake of salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper into a pie plate or a shallow bowl. Use a wire whisk to incorporate the dry ingredients.
6. Place a large sauté pan on the burner. Drizzle the bottom of the pan with a five count of extra virgin olive oil. Add one pat (1 tablespoon) butter to the pan. Heat the burner to medium-high.
7. Working one or two pieces at a time, place the chicken pieces into the seasoned flour mixture. Turn the pieces to ensure they are evenly coated with a thin layer of the flour mixture. Return the coated pieces to the platter as you go. You should have just enough seasoned flour to coat eight pieces of chicken.
8. Once the oil develops a sheen, gently place the chicken breasts, meat-side down, into the pan. Shake the pan gently to ensure that the chicken doesn’t stick. Cook the chicken breasts until the tops are golden and fragrant, approximately 5 minutes. Once the tops of the chicken breasts are cooked, use kitchen tongs to flip the chicken pieces so that the bottoms of the chicken breasts are resting in the hot oil. Cook until seared, approximately 2 minutes.
9. Use the tongs to carefully transfer the cooked chicken breasts to the platter and arrange them so that the seared tops of the breasts face upwards, undisturbed.
10. If the pan is running dry, refresh with a three-count of extra virgin olive oil. Add the remaining pat (1 tablespoon) of butter to the pan. Place the chicken thighs in the pan and cook as in Step 8 above. Transfer the cooked chicken thighs to the platter as in Step 9 above.
11. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the onions. Use the tip of a paring knife to remove the root and stem ends of each onion. Use your fingers to rub off and discard the papery outer skin that should be loose after the boil-and-blanch method in steps 2 - 4 above. Continue until you have cleaned all of the onions.
12. Once the chicken is seared per steps 8 - 10 above, peel the garlic and remove the root end. Halve each clove; remove and discard any sprouting from the center. Slice each half lengthways into slivers and then each sliver lengthways into matchsticks. Cut across the matchsticks to mince. Scrape the minced garlic into the pan. Add the peeled onions to the pan.
13. Cook the garlic-onion mixture until the mixture starts to give off its fragrance, approximately 2 minutes. Use a heatproof silicon spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture and to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
14. Reduce burner to low. Gently add the cider to the pan. Use the spatula or wooden spoon to stir the pan mixture until well-combined. The mixture will thicken.
15. Carefully measure the brandy and the Balsamic vinegar into the pan mixture. Use the spatula or wooden spoon to stir the pan mixture until well-combined.
16. Use the tongs to gently nestle the chicken pieces into the mixture in the pan. Be careful to place the chicken pieces so that the seared tops are facing upwards and not covered with liquid. Sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of thyme.
17. Once you have placed all of the chicken in the pan, cover the pan.
18. Cook undisturbed on low until the chicken is cooked safely through to 165 degrees on a meat thermometer, approximately 25 minutes.
19. After 25 minutes, lift the lid and give the pan a gentle shake. The chicken should be golden and cooked through and the sauce should be fragrant and velvety.
20. Distribute the braised onions and sauce among four bowls. Top each bowl with a chicken breast and thigh. Serve.
Back home, summer’s play clothes are folded away for the last time this season. Sweaters are unfolded and inspected. Woolens that are stored effectively should exhibit no nibble holes from the hungry mandibles of moths. Blankets and comforters are shaken from cedar chests and refreshed by an afternoon in that cool autumn breeze. We clean and store the beach towels and make a mental note that soon it will be time to inspect the Thanksgiving linens. We visit with our houseplants as we refresh their top soil. As good plant parents, we want to help these members of our families prepare for overwintering.
The end of the day when we change over the home from summer to autumn begs for a cozy meal. At Urban Home Blog, autumn weeknight dinner menus include an aromatic roasted pork loin served with warm apples, a woodsy plank of salmon served with olives and potatoes, and a big bowl of beef stew brewed with beer and onions. This year, our signature weeknight dinner for the autumn season is a plate of fragrant sautéed chicken, served with a quick, flavorful pan sauce made with herbs and apple cider.
Apple cider is the official drink of autumn. We serve it hot and spicy from ladles and scoop it thick and sweet onto our toast, so it seems a natural progression to cook a meal with it. I thought I was so smart to cook with cider, but a spot check of two volumes in the Homekeeper’s Library of vintage cookbooks confirms that a cider pan sauce or glaze is a long-establishing cooking practice. Both The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook (1950) and Farm Journal's Country Cookbook (1939) use apple cider to create a glaze for holiday ham and roasted vegetables and as an ingredient to replace the wine or beer in beef stew.
Here is my original recipe for an autumnal dinner of cider-braised chicken. As is typical for most stovetop braises, the chicken is briefly sauteed before the vegetables -- in this case the small flat Italian onions known as Cipollini, which agree with the sweet-savory character of the dish -- are added to the pan along with the braising liquid. It’s a simple preparation, which is as welcome after a day of doing chores as will be the orchard fragrance it releases as it braises on the stovetop. Serve your cider-braised chicken with roasted vegetables, a plate of biscuits and cold ale.
CIDER-BRAISED CHICKEN
Most cooks prefer to buy a whole chicken and cut it up themselves, but you can have the butcher prepare two breasts and four thighs for a braise. Cipollini onions are available at farmer’s markets and in the produce section of larger supermarkets. If you can’t get cipollini onions, use pearl onions. This recipe serves four.
4 halves from 2 whole bone-in chicken breasts, preferably organic
4 bone-in chicken thighs, preferably organic
1 pound cipollini onions
2 medium cloves garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup cake flour
1 cup apple cider
3 tablespoons brandy
2 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1. Unwrap the chicken pieces and rinse under cool water. Pat dry with clean paper towels. Place the chicken pieces on a heatproof platter. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and several grindings fresh black pepper. Lightly cover the chicken with a piece of parchment paper. Set the covered chicken aside to rest while you prepare the onions and the flour mixture.
2. Fill a saucepan halfway with water. Place the pan on the burner and turn the heat to high. Fill a bowl halfway with cold water; add ice to the bowl.
3. Once the water in the saucepan is boiling, add the onions to the boiling water. Cook just until the onion skins start crackling, 1 minute.
4. Turn off the burner. Drain the onions into a colander and then transfer the onions to the iced water. Use your hands to stir the onions in the iced water. When the onions feel cool to the touch, drain the onions into the colander.
5. Measure the cake flour, dried rubbed sage, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, a good shake of salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper into a pie plate or a shallow bowl. Use a wire whisk to incorporate the dry ingredients.
6. Place a large sauté pan on the burner. Drizzle the bottom of the pan with a five count of extra virgin olive oil. Add one pat (1 tablespoon) butter to the pan. Heat the burner to medium-high.
7. Working one or two pieces at a time, place the chicken pieces into the seasoned flour mixture. Turn the pieces to ensure they are evenly coated with a thin layer of the flour mixture. Return the coated pieces to the platter as you go. You should have just enough seasoned flour to coat eight pieces of chicken.
8. Once the oil develops a sheen, gently place the chicken breasts, meat-side down, into the pan. Shake the pan gently to ensure that the chicken doesn’t stick. Cook the chicken breasts until the tops are golden and fragrant, approximately 5 minutes. Once the tops of the chicken breasts are cooked, use kitchen tongs to flip the chicken pieces so that the bottoms of the chicken breasts are resting in the hot oil. Cook until seared, approximately 2 minutes.
9. Use the tongs to carefully transfer the cooked chicken breasts to the platter and arrange them so that the seared tops of the breasts face upwards, undisturbed.
10. If the pan is running dry, refresh with a three-count of extra virgin olive oil. Add the remaining pat (1 tablespoon) of butter to the pan. Place the chicken thighs in the pan and cook as in Step 8 above. Transfer the cooked chicken thighs to the platter as in Step 9 above.
11. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the onions. Use the tip of a paring knife to remove the root and stem ends of each onion. Use your fingers to rub off and discard the papery outer skin that should be loose after the boil-and-blanch method in steps 2 - 4 above. Continue until you have cleaned all of the onions.
12. Once the chicken is seared per steps 8 - 10 above, peel the garlic and remove the root end. Halve each clove; remove and discard any sprouting from the center. Slice each half lengthways into slivers and then each sliver lengthways into matchsticks. Cut across the matchsticks to mince. Scrape the minced garlic into the pan. Add the peeled onions to the pan.
13. Cook the garlic-onion mixture until the mixture starts to give off its fragrance, approximately 2 minutes. Use a heatproof silicon spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture and to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
14. Reduce burner to low. Gently add the cider to the pan. Use the spatula or wooden spoon to stir the pan mixture until well-combined. The mixture will thicken.
15. Carefully measure the brandy and the Balsamic vinegar into the pan mixture. Use the spatula or wooden spoon to stir the pan mixture until well-combined.
16. Use the tongs to gently nestle the chicken pieces into the mixture in the pan. Be careful to place the chicken pieces so that the seared tops are facing upwards and not covered with liquid. Sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of thyme.
17. Once you have placed all of the chicken in the pan, cover the pan.
18. Cook undisturbed on low until the chicken is cooked safely through to 165 degrees on a meat thermometer, approximately 25 minutes.
19. After 25 minutes, lift the lid and give the pan a gentle shake. The chicken should be golden and cooked through and the sauce should be fragrant and velvety.
20. Distribute the braised onions and sauce among four bowls. Top each bowl with a chicken breast and thigh. Serve.
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