2 chix. maternity. daddy. baby. family.

i am cooking-challenged.  in fact, attempting to prepare anything more elaborate than scrambled eggs and toast typically ends with me on the floor, weeping into my mixing bowl.  i WANT to be a good cook.  I want to be a GREAT cook. but, it just doesn’t come naturally to me.  so, my mum, master of all things epicurean, is teaching me her culinary secrets via phone and skype…God help her.

For lesson number one, mum, armed with a pantry full of patience, talked me through the recipe below and it came out edible. in fact, it came out awesome!  And, the only time i cried was during a particularly sappy car commercial later that evening…

so, TRUST ME.  if I can do it, you can do it better.  now…let’s get cookin’!

AUTUMN APPLE CIDER CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
boneless chicken breast (2-3)
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup chopped onions (frozen are fine- use as many or as little as you like)
corn starch (optional, to thicken gravy as desired)
panko seasoned bread crumbs (or any seasoned italian bread crumbs)
safflower or coconut oil (do not use olive oil)

DIRECTIONS
-fill a zip lock bag with enough bread crumbs to coat chicken thoroughly
-place chicken in bag and shake until coated
-put a small dollop of oil (tablespoon-ish) in pan and get hot, but not to point of burning oil
-place chicken in hot oil and brown, about 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned
-add apple cider (use more if you want more gravy) and onions to pan
-cover and simmer on low (simmer setting) for approximately 15-20 min. depending on thickness of chicken.
-after 15 min (or 20 if chicken is thick) check to make sure it’s thoroughly cooked, not pink in the middle
-remove chicken and set aside, covered to keep it hot.
there will be a nice apple cider juice in the pan.
(to thicken to gravy-style, see directions below)

TO THICKEN SAUCE (optional)
-in a cup or small bowl, add one tbsp corn starch and mix with COLD water, into a smooth paste (should be liquid enough to drizzle into pan)
-make sure apple cider juice in pan is still hot, close to boiling (you can do this with the chicken still in the pan, as long as you’re quick so you don’t over cook the chicken)
-drizzle cornstarch paste into pan, stirring constantly and thicken as desired.  For thinner sauce, use less cornstarch, for thicker sauce, use more.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS
This meal is fairly healthy as it’s cooked in just a tiny bit of safflower or coconut oil, both of which are healthy oils.  To keep the healthy going, try serving with baked sweet potatoes (instead of mashed white potatoes) and a green veggie like broccoli or asparagus.

apple cider chicken

Voila!!
this is a pic of my chicken mid-cook.
it smelled & tasted amazing!