One-Pan Chicken with Apples

by Jessica Nguyen

A simple one pan meal that’s a good, wintry weeknight dish. It’s creamy, comforting and really easy. Inspired by the French dish, Poulet à la Normande (Chicken Normandy) with chicken and apples. However instead of deglazing with brandy and cooking in apple cider, I’ve opted for chicken stock to keep it simple and family friendly. 


For the apples, I’ve used envy™ apples which are a sweet (one of the sweetest varieties you’ll find) winter apple and currently in season. However, it has a firm and crunchy texture and holds its shape well, making it a good apple to use in savoury dishes like this. I’ve also kept the apple skin on for ease, but also for added texture and flavour. For the chicken, thigh cutlets (skin on and bone-in) are the best to use so you get extra flavour from the rendered fat in the skin, however skinless/boneless thighs would be my next alternative. I’ve also used leeks in this as they’re in season (winter veg) and complements the chicken and apples well with some added sweetness and texture in the sauce.

 

Serves- 4

Ingredients- 9

Cooking Time- 30 minutes

Skill Level- Easy


Ingredients

  • 3 envy™ apples, cored and cut into thick wedges (8 per apple). I’ve kept the skin on for ease, but you can peel them if you prefer

  • 5-6 (500g) chicken thighs cutlets (bone-in, skin-on)

  • 2 leeks, white stalk washed and cut into 5cm pieces. Keep the green leafy stalks for making vegetable stock. I keep vegetable scraps in the freezer until I’ve accumulated enough to make a stock

  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

  • 2 cups of chicken stock

  • 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

  • ¼ cup of cream fraiche. You could also use thickened cream and tablespoon of lemon juice/apple cider vinegar.

  • Generous pinch of salt and pepper to taste

  • 1 tablespoon of cornstarch/tapioca flour mixed into a slurry with 1 tablespoon of cold water.

Method

  1. Pat the chicken thighs dry and season with a generous pinch of salt.

  2. Place chicken into a cold pan skin side down, heating the pan to high. This allows the chicken skin to render out some fat so you don’t need to add oil, but also crisps up the skin and turns it golden. Cook for a few minutes until the skin is golden brown and flip to the other side to brown for another few minutes. For extra brown/crispy skin, using tongs or a weight to press down the thighs into the pan so it has more contact which browns them faster.

  3. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the apples, cooking for 2 minutes until they turn brighter yellow in colour. I also add a splash of the chicken stockn to deglaze the pan so the rendered chicken fat lifts off.

  4. Add in the leeks and cook for another 2 minutes until they have slightly softened.

  5. Then add in the remaining chicken stock, mustard, cream and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then add the chicken thighs back in, skin side up nestling them into the sauce. Reduce to a simmer and place the the lid on, cooking for a further 10 minutes.

  6. Taste the sauce and season to taste, you’ll most likely need to add more salt and maybe some acid (lemon juice, dash of vinegar) to balance the sweet and creaminess. Add in the cornstarch slurry and quickly mix to thicken the sauce, it should coat the back of your spoon.

  7. Serve whilst hot and enjoy! If you’ve got extra time, this dish pairs really well over some mashed potatoes, otherwise for a fuss free option, a crusty baguette, rice or a leafy green salad would work well too.

Watch the Process

 

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