By rwakefield
Chicken is justifiably one of the best loved meats throughout the whole world. It is almost fat free, is an excellent source of protein, highly versatile and plays a major part in many diet recipes. If you can get hold of an organic free range chicken, do so, as it will be less likely to be contaminated with additives and hormones. It’s also a sound policy from an humanitarian point of view, as a lot of the chickens sold in supermarkets are bred in conditions that are quite shocking.
If you are not the dieting type, ther is no need for concern, chicken is not just used in low fat recipes. Nevertheless, most chicken recipes will be, by and large, better for you than the same recipes cooked with other meat, such as pork or lamb.
Here’s an example recipe that will delight both family and friends.
The recipe needs:
- One chicken (approximately 3.5 lb)
- Two C. of cider
- 6 ea. Apples (pared and cut into quarters)
- salt (as needed)
- pepper (as needed)
- 1 teaspoonful cornstarch
- 1/2 C. of whipping cream
- 1 Tbls of fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 C. of butter
- Two Tbls of oil (olive)
- A quarter teaspoonful ground cinnamon (optional)
- 4 spring onions, (chopped well)
- Two dried cloves
- A quarter teaspoonful ground ginger
- 1 sprig of parsley, (chopped well, for use as a garnish)
- 1/2 teaspoonful dried thyme
- Two teaspoons of sugar
Technique:
Clean the Chicken and dry it well.
Mix a small amount of salt and pepper and then rub it into the chicken (outside and inside)
Drizzle the lemon juice over the pieces of apple.
Take a large frying pan or skillet and heat half the butter until melted and mix in the olive oil.
Put half of the apple pieces into the pan and fry lightly for 5 mins. until browned slightly
Mix in the ground ginger and give it a few stirs, heating it a short while longer to allow the ground ginger to give up it’s flavours.
Stuff the bird with the apple mixture and close the cavity by tying with string or by ‘pinning’ it with a metal or wooden skewer.
Slowly melt the rest of the butter in the pan and then add the chicken to the skillet and fry until the skin is browned a little, browning it all over.
Put the organic chicken into a large casserole pot with lid.
Take the remaining apples, the spring onions, ground cinnamon, dried thyme, cloves and sugar and put them in the skillet.
Cook for two to three mins then add the apple cider and increase the heat to start the mixture boiling.
When the cider mix is boiling, pour it over the chicken in the casserole dish and cover the pot with foil or waxed paper before placing the lid on the pot.
Put the pot in the oven and cook for approx 3/4 hour at 400 Fahrenheit
When the time is up, remove the chicken from the pot and put onto a warm plate whilst you prepare the cider gravy.
Skim and remove any fat from the pot and then boil the juices down until there is approx one cup full remaining.
Pour in the whipping cream and cornstarch, and stir constantly till it reaches a nice creamy consistancy. Season to taste, and pour the sauce over the organic chicken
Serve with the chopped parsley sprinkled over the chicken.
To make the meal into a healthy and well balanced meal, you could add side servings of steamed broccoli or spring greens and sauteed potatoes.
If you enjoy this dish, you can find a wide variety of chicken recipes by checking out one of the collections of free recipes on the World Wide Web.
Mr Wakefield is a copywriter and web developer who provides food and diet advice for ‘Recipe Ideas’, which has in excess of 25,000 recipes with specific recipe sections for Chicken Recipes and Low Carb Recipes and plenty of other categories too!.
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