Apple picking is always a highly anticipated autumn Saturday to revel in crisp air and sapphire skies. Pack up the kids and head north to farm country to wander an orchard. Breathe the spicy breeze while filling a big basket with apples and letting the little ones run through fields and roll down hills. Catch a ride on a hay wagon. Bite into a warm cinnamon-y cider donut. Watch the cider press pour out delicious juice, then load up an extra gallon for cooking great fall-flavored meals. Take home a big basket of apples destined for school lunches and apple-y cooking.
Apples pair perfectly with chicken. Great chopped with the leftover meat tossed with celery and mayo into a lunchtime salad or sauteed in butter to serve as a side dish to chicken or pork chops. Chopped and lightly sauteed they add an extra dimension to the chicken braised in cider. But don’t be afraid to change the chicken for sausage — or add potatoes.
White sangrias have been huge this summer. Now use cider to make a bronze-colored quencher giving this Spanish quaff an American twist.
Creative cooks will love using apples as a jumping off point for all kinds of dishes. A potato and cheese gratin improves with apple slices. Of course apple pies will be baked, but a crisp is less demanding (no rolling out dough) and welcome on a busy weeknight.
Don’t count out having that crisp for breakfast.
APPLE CIDER-BRAISED CHICKEN
Makes 4 servings.
I double this recipe for a family Sunday dinner. The wine gives up its alcohol content when cooking at high heat. (Or skip it altogether and add more cider or substitute chicken stock.)
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 bulb fennel, in ½- inch-thick slices
4 shallots, quartered
6 whole carrots
salt, fresh ground black pepper
4 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
½ cup dry white wine (optional)
½ cup apple cider
6 to 8 sprigs thyme
Lemon wedges, for garnish
Warm 2 tablespoons of oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add fennel, shallots and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until golden, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the skillet; set aside.
Heat remaining oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook, skin side down, until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove chicken from the pan; set on a plate. Heat oven to 375F.
Add wine to the pan; raise heat to medium-high; cook until syrupy, about 1 minute. Return thyme, fennel, shallot and carrot to skillet. Add cider; stir the vegetables. Top with chicken pieces, now skin side up. Transfer skillet to the heated oven until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.
Place chicken and vegetables on a serving platter. Discard thyme. Simmer any liquid left in the skillet over medium heat until reduced, 4 to 6 minutes. Pour over chicken and vegetables. Serve with a garnish of lemon wedges.
APPLE CIDER SANGRIA
Makes 1 pitcher.
This one is for the grown-ups. The flavor develops with refrigeration.
Plain brandy can be used, but ginger brandy gives it a better flavor.
1 bottle pinot grigio
2-1/2 cups apple cider
1 cup club soda
½ cup ginger brandy
3 Honeycrisp apples, chopped
3 pears, chopped
Combine all ingredients and stir. Refrigerate for two hours or longer.
