Sometimes a recipe comes together so easily and with such great flavor that I am surprised. During the past few weeks we have been featuring recipes with apples as side dishes. Now that the weather is becoming colder we want to utilize apples as a main ingredient in an entrée along with a fastbraised chicken. Start with some smoky bacon, fennel, raisins, chicken thighs, chunks of apples, and a touch of curry for the perfect autumn dish. The sweet, smoky, spicy, and licorice (from the fennel) flavors come together with such intensity that we couldn’t wait to make this meal again.
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon cut into 2-inch pieces
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs tossed with ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups of ½-inch diced onion (1 large onion)
- 1 cup ½-inch diced fennel (1 medium fennel bulb)
- 1 tablespoon water
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 cup apple cider
- 4 Fuji apples cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon sweet butter
Preparation
Heat a large Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot with lid over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until lightly browned and crisp.
Remove bacon from the pan but leave the bacon fat to cook with the chicken. Increase the heat to high then add the chicken in a single layer. Brown each side for 2–3 minutes adjusting heat to medium-high.
Remove the chicken and let rest with the bacon on a plate collecting the juices.
Add the onions, fennel, 1 tablespoon water, and raisins to the pan and cook for 3–5 minutes stirring often to lightly brown vegetables.
Sprinkle in the curry powder and mix well. Deglaze the pan with the apple cider and reduce by half.
Toss in the apple pieces. Place the chicken, bacon, and juices back in the pan. Now pour in the low-sodium chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
Adjust the seasoning with salt if necessary. Finish with 1 tablespoon of sweet butter. Serve with roasted new potatoes.
Serves 6
