Tonight we had Steve's best friend from high school and his lovely wife over for dinner. They live in North Carolina now, and we see them about once a year, which is actually pretty good compared to how often we see other friends that have moved away. We have an advantage because his parents live up here so he comes to see his family often, and we just happen to be close. I already had this recipe chosen to have this week, but decided to have it tonight, since it appears to make a lot and it's hard to mess up chicken. It's from one of my sister's Taste of Home magazines, June/July 2010. The top picture is of the finished product, and the bottom one is of the brine. I just thought it looked so fancy with the rosemary and the lemon and stuff so I took a picture of it.
Apple-Brined Chicken Thighs
3 cups apple cider or juice (I used juice, since I always have that on hand!)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium lemon, sliced
4 fresh rosemary sprigs (these look like tree branches, I've never seen them fresh before!)
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp whole peppercorns
2 cups cold water
10 bone-in chicken thighs
1 2-gallon ziploc bag (I did not want to buy these so I didn't)
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
3 medium tart apples, cut into wedges
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
In a Dutch oven, combine the cider, onion, lemon, rosemary sprigs, salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt and brown sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in cold water. Cool brine to room temperature. Place chicken in the 2 gallon ziploc bag. Carefully pour cooled brine into the bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bag and turn to coat. Place in roasting pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours, turning occasionally. (Okay if you don't have or don't want to buy these bags, DON'T try using just a one gallon bag, ha ha. That's what I did and there was no way it was all fitting. So then I put everything into a big Tupperware bowl, covered it, and put it in the fridge. All the chicken was covered by the brine and so it worked fine.) Place beans and apples in a greased roasting pan. Drain chicken; place in prepared pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 40 minutes. Combine the minced rosemary, oil, pepper, and remaining brown sugar; sprinkle over chicken. Bake 15-25 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180 and beans are tender.
I do not have a Pampered Chef Herb Mincer thingy, so I had to use dried rosemary on the second step, which grated (get it?) on me a little because I had just bought all that fresh rosemary. Oh well, it wasn't very expensive, and I'm sure I don't need the herb thing, since I don't often use fresh spices. Also I thought the recipe was a bit unclear about where the beans should be in relation to the chicken, and whether or not to use the rack that comes standard in most roasting pans. My mom thought I should put the chicken in the middle and the vegetables on the end, using the rack. The TOH website had the recipe with one review, which did not address this issue. Aren't you guys all SO glad you have me? Haha. I do this leg work for you so you know what to do if/when you try these recipes. I ended up not using the rack, and putting the beans and apples spread out in the bottom of the pan, and putting the chicken on top. This recipe turned out to be so delicious. It is a lot of ingredients, but I only had to buy the fresh rosemary, the green beans, and the lemon, everything else I had already. Although my bay leaves are probably like 8 years old. It was really good. Andrew and Shelley both had seconds, which means they really liked it because most people won't have seconds for the sake of politeness. Nathan wouldn't eat the beans or apples, but he did eat all of his chicken and said "Yum!" so that's a hit. And Sam and Emma did fine with their plates as well. Definitely a keeper even if it is a bit more work.
Apple-Brined Chicken Thighs
3 cups apple cider or juice (I used juice, since I always have that on hand!)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium lemon, sliced
4 fresh rosemary sprigs (these look like tree branches, I've never seen them fresh before!)
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp whole peppercorns
2 cups cold water
10 bone-in chicken thighs
1 2-gallon ziploc bag (I did not want to buy these so I didn't)
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
3 medium tart apples, cut into wedges
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
In a Dutch oven, combine the cider, onion, lemon, rosemary sprigs, salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt and brown sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in cold water. Cool brine to room temperature. Place chicken in the 2 gallon ziploc bag. Carefully pour cooled brine into the bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bag and turn to coat. Place in roasting pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours, turning occasionally. (Okay if you don't have or don't want to buy these bags, DON'T try using just a one gallon bag, ha ha. That's what I did and there was no way it was all fitting. So then I put everything into a big Tupperware bowl, covered it, and put it in the fridge. All the chicken was covered by the brine and so it worked fine.) Place beans and apples in a greased roasting pan. Drain chicken; place in prepared pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 40 minutes. Combine the minced rosemary, oil, pepper, and remaining brown sugar; sprinkle over chicken. Bake 15-25 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180 and beans are tender.
I do not have a Pampered Chef Herb Mincer thingy, so I had to use dried rosemary on the second step, which grated (get it?) on me a little because I had just bought all that fresh rosemary. Oh well, it wasn't very expensive, and I'm sure I don't need the herb thing, since I don't often use fresh spices. Also I thought the recipe was a bit unclear about where the beans should be in relation to the chicken, and whether or not to use the rack that comes standard in most roasting pans. My mom thought I should put the chicken in the middle and the vegetables on the end, using the rack. The TOH website had the recipe with one review, which did not address this issue. Aren't you guys all SO glad you have me? Haha. I do this leg work for you so you know what to do if/when you try these recipes. I ended up not using the rack, and putting the beans and apples spread out in the bottom of the pan, and putting the chicken on top. This recipe turned out to be so delicious. It is a lot of ingredients, but I only had to buy the fresh rosemary, the green beans, and the lemon, everything else I had already. Although my bay leaves are probably like 8 years old. It was really good. Andrew and Shelley both had seconds, which means they really liked it because most people won't have seconds for the sake of politeness. Nathan wouldn't eat the beans or apples, but he did eat all of his chicken and said "Yum!" so that's a hit. And Sam and Emma did fine with their plates as well. Definitely a keeper even if it is a bit more work.
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