I often wish that my day-to-day life involved sitting at a long, dark-stained wooden table set with Limoges china and eating beluga caviar with a serving spoon, or shaving black truffles onto pasta with the thick side of a grater, while simultaneously quaffing Cristal straight from the bottle.
Alas, I don't have that kind of money. However, it has been said that chicken is the poor man's quail, and that's good enough for me.
And so it came to be that, on a cold Sunday afternoon, I purchased a 10-pack of chicken thighs for the low price of $6 and change.
I would have bought fewer than 10 thighs, but for some reason you can only purchase a four or six-pack of thighs if they are skinless, and I have never been a big fan of skinless—or even boneless—chicken.
As I believe that apples are an excellent complement to any sort of chicken dish, I decided to marinate the meat in cider, and then use that cider to create an apple-tinged gravy.
If you intend to make this dish for dinner, you should serve it with some sort of side.
I chose to make spaetzle, because sometimes I like to imagine that it was Robert Kennedy's favorite starch.
Spaetzle is a German noodle that is boiled and fried, and fairly easy to make. Orzo with butter would also be delicious with this chicken.
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs (I prefer these on the bone and with skin)
21/2 cups apple cider
1 lemon
Salt (to taste)
3-5 cloves garlic
3 tbsps. olive oil
Step One:
Pour cider into a large dish. Place the chicken in this dish, cover with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator to marinate for two to three hours.
Meanwhile, chop the garlic and juice your lemon. If you are a garlic person, chop extra garlic. If you love lemons, squeeze extra juice.
Step Two:
Place a non-stick pan or skillet on medium heat. Throw in the olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. Cook this until the garlic turns a very light shade of brown on its edges. Remove the garlic pieces, and discard.
Step Three:
Place the chicken into the pan, and immediately turn the heat up to medium high. Make sure to remember that you are cooking with very hot oil, and be mindful that it can splatter, especially during this step.
Salt the chicken to taste. Pour in enough of the cider marinade to cover the bottom of your pan. Every time the cider boils away, repeat this step.
Cook until there is no pink on the inside of the chicken, about 20 to 25 minutes. Be careful not to let the skin stick to the pan, as it will either burn or rip off of the meat. Turn the chicken often to make sure this doesn't happen.
Step Four:
Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside. Turn the heat down to medium-low, pour in the rest of your cider and scrape the bottom of the pan with a metal spoon or spatula. Don't use aggressive force, but remember that you are trying to dissolve the leftover food bits and the rendered fat into the cider gravy.
Let this sauce cook down about two-thirds of the way, until it is somewhat syrupy and dark brown. Return the chicken to the pan, and cook about one minute on each side, which should create a layer of caramelized cider glaze on the chicken.
Place the chicken on your serving platter, pour the cider reduction over it—preferably, you should strain it through a coffee filter or something similar, but this isn't necessary. Serve with a smile and some Sriracha.