Friday, October 1, 2010

Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce



This recipe represents my first entry for Light Bites, a cooking/ blogging group I joined. Every Friday we blog a recipe from Cooking Light, which just happens to be one of my favourite magazines. This week's recipe is Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce, woo a dish right up my alley! And I only did a few minor modifications ;). I added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to add a bit of tang with the sweetness, upped the bacon (because I agree with Pam ,you can never have too much bacon, though I did use the slightly leaner cut of side bacon) and I used locally raised chicken thighs instead of breasts. I have nothing against breasts, but recently had a bad chicken breast experience and so preferred to use the moister, more flavourful thighs. Also added a few herbs, cayenne, and thickened the sauce with a bit of cornstarch, as others who'd reviewed it mentioned it was too thin and I can't stand a thin sauce, the cornstarch was perfect and made it a lovely, glossy sauce.

Verdict? Two yums up! Appley, bacony deliciousness. The chicken pretty much just came along for the ride, but I'm glad it did. Since I got behind and have a massive box of tomatoes to salsify this evening, I just had the chicken straight up for dinner, but I think the suggested sides of wild rice and broccoli would be perfect.

Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 2

4 side bacon slices, chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 tsp each freshly ground black pepper, Herbs de Provence, and cayenne
1 onion, sliced
3/4 cup unsweetened apple cider
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp cornstarch

Directions
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Sesaon chicken with pepper, herbs,and cayenne and add chicken to drippings in pan. Cook 8 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes or until tender and lightly carmelized, stirring occasionally. Add cider, broth, and bacon; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup (about 5 minutes). Add cornstarch and stir well to combine, when sauce had thickened add chicken back to pan. Cook for another 5 minutes or so to allow sauce to penetrate chicken.Serve with rice and broccoli, or if you have a vat of salsa to make, just chow it down.

2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! So glad you enjoyed it! :D

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  2. Of course, you had me at bacon. My eyes glazed over and I'm typing in braille right now.

    Did you know that center cut bacon is nearly equal to turkey bacon in fat grams and calories? I tend to use it all the time now.

    Also, love that you used chicken thighs.... so much moister than breasts. Great recipe!

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