Behold the lowly chicken breast: boring and bland, but generally cheap to
purchase. Pros and cons, people, pros
and cons. However, the very best thing
about them is that they’re basically a blank canvas just waiting to be
converted into edible art, and cooking is really the only art form I know
anything about! Convenient for this
blog, yes?
So let’s say you grabbed some of said chicken breasts at
your local grocery store, but you have no idea what to do next. There they are, sitting on your counter, just
waiting for inspiration to hit. Hey,
here’s a thought…bear with me for this one…
Do you like apples?
How do you like THESE apples with your chicken?! Sorry, I couldn’t
resist a good movie line.
Anyways, I’ve talked in the past about how apples are great
with pork. Did you know they are also
just as great with chicken? And your
kids probably didn’t eat the ones you bought last week anyway, so use them for
this recipe instead. Go get ‘em out of
your fruit bowl. Hopefully, they’re not
too wrinkly yet.
Chop them up into thin wedges. Grab an onion and chop that up as well since
you’re in a chopping frame of mind.
Heat up a few drizzles of olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Salt and pepper your chicken and get to sizzling!
Brown them on either side for around 8 minutes and then remove them from the pan. Add your onions to the pan and cook them for another 8 minutes until they soften. Then, add a cup of chicken broth.
The apples (that have been patiently waiting all this time) can now be added to the pan to cook in the yummy oniony chickeny broth for a few minutes to help them soften. Ah what the heck, let's throw in a 1/4 cup of white wine as well before adding our chicken back into the mix.
Sprinkle the whole darn thing with some fresh thyme. It adds a pop of both flavor and color to this lovely, simple dish. Let it all cook on a simmer for ten minutes to make sure the chicken is cooked through. Raw chicken is NOT your friend.
Plate yourself a piece of chicken with plenty of sauce and apples. Feel free to serve over rice or noodles, but I opted for a salad side.
Meat and fruit can be the best of pals under certain circumstances. This is definitely one of them.
Try it. You'll like it.
-Sam
Chicken with Apples and Thyme
(Serves 2)
1 medium onion
1 medium apple
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt
pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
Chop an apple and an onion into thin slices. Salt and pepper the chicken. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium heat and brown the chicken on both sides for about 8 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion to the pan and saute for 8 minutes until softened. Add the chicken broth, apple slices, wine, and thyme and simmer for 10 more minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve hot.
