Apple Cider Braised Chicken Legs Recipes

CHICKEN NORMANDY (CHICKEN LEGS BRAISED IN APPLE CIDER & BRANDY)

Steps:

• Fry the apples: Peel, quarter, remove seeds and slice the apples. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet, add the apples in one layer and fry them until golden brown, flipping a few times. Once cooked on both sides, remove apple slices and set them aside (about 5-7 minutes)
• Sear the Chicken: To the same skillet add another 2 tablespoons of butter; season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and sprinkle with flour. Sear the chicken on the hot pan for 5-7 minutes on each side until the skin is crispy and golden brown. Then remove the chicken from a pan and set aside.
• Prepare the braising liquid: Preheat the oven to 375ºF. To the same pan add sliced onions. Sauté the onions on medium heat for approximately 5-7, add garlic and dry thyme and cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan with brandy and cook until half of it has evaporated, then add apple cider (cloudy apple juicer) and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Braise the chicken: Add the chicken (skin side up) back to the skillet, cover the pan and move to the hot oven. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the oven using heavy-duty oven mittens.
• Finish up the sauce: Remove your chicken onto a plate and finish up the sauce. First, add heavy cream and then Dijon mustard and mix well. Cook it for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens out. Add fried apples, fresh thyme, and chicken back to the skillet (to soak up some of the sauce).
• Serve: To serve place the sauce onto the plate, make sure each plate has onions, apples, and enough sauce to dunk in. Place a chicken leg on top of the sauce and serve. Enjoy!

APPLE CIDER CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, add to pan and sear until golden, about 4 minutes each side. Remove chicken from pan, and set aside. Add remaining butter and onion, apple, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Saute until apple begins to get color and onions soften, about 6 minutes. Add flour and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Nestle chicken back into pan, add cider, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH APPLES AND PEARS

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry. Season with salt & pepper.
• Peel & core the apples and pears. Slice them into sixths or eights.
• Chop some fresh marjoram for garnish.
• Preheat your oven to 350° F.
• In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and butter. When hot but not smoking, brown the chicken pieces a few at a time being sure not to crowd the pan with too many pieces or they will steam. Depending on the size of the pan, you may have to do this in batches.
• When all sides are browned, remove the chicken from the pan and transfer it to a plate to reserve. Pour out most of the butter/oil fat from the pan, but leave about 1 tablespoon for browning the apples and pears.
• Over medium-high heat, cook the pears and apples for about 4 minutes. Transfer the pears and apples to another plate to reserve.
• Add the cider to the pan to deglaze. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape any bits of browned chicken from the pan. This stuff is called fond or sucs.
• Add the mustard and using a spoon or whisk, stir the mustard into the cider.
• Return the chicken pieces along with any juices that may have leaked out back to the pan.
• Add the marjoram sprigs, cover and place the pan into the oven on the middle rack.
• I didn't have a sauté pan big enough for all the chicken pieces so for this step, I transferred everything to my Le Creuset Dutch Oven, one of my favorite pieces of cookware.
• After 10 minutes in the oven, I added the apple and pear slices to the pot and continued braising for another 30 to 40 minutes. The meat was so tender it was about to fall off the bone.
• I carefully removed the chicken and fruit to a plate with a slotted spoon, removed and threw out the marjoram sprigs and started the hardest part to this recipe - defatting. There's just no easy way to get rid of the fat that comes off the chicken. I've tried those defatting gadgets, paper towels but nothing really works so well that it removes the fat and isn't messy.
• If you have the time and don't have to serve this up as soon as it's finished, I highly recommend you transfer the liquid to a small bowl or plastic container let it cool and then place in the refrigerator over night.The next day you'll have a layer of fat on top that you can easily remove and be left with nothing but incredibly flavored braising liquid. When I made this, I didn't have the luxury of time so I defatted by hand and made the best of it.
• I transferred the liquid to a saucepan, brought it to a boil and then reduced the heat to medium, added the half and half and continued reducing until the sauce was my desired consistency.I could have made a roux (fat and flour) to thicken the sauce, but I think you get much better flavor by reduction.
• To serve, plate the chicken, top with a little sauce and sprinkle a little of the chopped marjoram on top. This is one delicious meal and even better if you let it sit for a day before serving.

APPLE BRAISED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, warm oil over high heat.
• Toss chicken with flour in a medium bowl, patting off excess.
• Place chicken in skillet and brown well on both sides.
• Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
• Reduce stove temperature to low and add onion to skillet.
• Sauté, stirring often, until onion is tender and lightly browned.
• Stir in apples, cider, chicken broth, salt, ginger and chicken.
• Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer chicken, onions and apples to a serving dish.
• In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 2 to 3 Tbs of pan juices.
• Combine cornstarch mixture with remaining pan juices, whisking constantly.
• Simmer for one minute.
• Pour sauce over chicken and serve.
• Yields 1 chicken breast and about 3/4 cup of apple-onion mixture per serving.

BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS WITH CIDER, APPLES & MUSTARD

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper. In a straight-sided 10- or 11-inch ovenproof sauté pan with a lid, heat the oil over mediumhigh heat until very hot. Arrange the chicken pieces skin side down in the pan (it'll be crowded), cover with a splatter screen, if you have one, and cook until deeply browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the pieces over and cook until the other sides are deeply browned, 3 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Pour out and discard all but 1 Tbs. of the fat from the pan. Set the pan aside to cool for a few minutes. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the apple pieces, and cook, turning once, until both cut sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a different plate. Carefully pour the cider into the pan and bring to a boil, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Whisk the mustard into the cider. Return the chicken to the pan, along with any accumulated juices. Add the marjoram sprigs and cover. Transfer the pan to the oven and braise for 10 minutes. Add the apples and continue to braise until the chicken is fork-tender and the drumstick meat starts to come away from the bone, 35 to 40 minutes more.

BRAISED APPLE CIDER CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• In the dutch oven or cast-iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
• Season the chicken with salt. Sear the chicken, skin side down, until the pieces are golden brown. Remove them from the skillet and place them on a plate until later.
• Take the sliced onions and add them to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until they soften and turn a golden brown. They will look caramelized.
• Add the garlic, pepper, and paprika. Mix together and cook for about a minute.
• Add in the apple cider and both vinegars to deglaze the pan.
• Add in the golden raisins and turn the heat to high to boil. Boil for 5 minutes until the sauce has reduced.
• Add all the chicken back into the pan and cook in the oven uncovered for 25 minutes or until the chicken is done to 160 degrees.
• Remove the pan from the oven. Take the chicken out and scoop out about 1/4 cup of the liquid. Add the two tablespoons of cornstarch to the 1/4 cup of liquid.
• Mix well and then add back to the pot. The slurry will thicken the sauce making it a gravy. Pour over your chicken and then serve to your family!