Description
This simple French chicken stew is perfect for autumn!
Ingredients
Scale
- 8–10 Chicken drumsticks (about 2–2.5 pounds)*
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 3 granny smith apples, sliced about 1/2 inch thick
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup calvados or apple brandy*
- 1 cup dry hard cider*
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/3 cup crėme fraîche*
Instructions
- Season chicken generously with salt and pepper (I use about 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper). Drudge it through the flour to coat. Set aside and reserve the extra drudging flour.
- Heat oil and butter in a large skillet or dutch oven equipped with a lid. Add the chicken and brown over medium high heat (about 4 minutes per side). Transfer chicken to a plate.
- Lower heat to medium and add the onions. You can add a little more oil or butter if needed. Cook onions for 5 minutes. Add the apples and garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add 3 tablespoons of flour (use the reserved drudging flour). Stir the mixture until the onions and apples are well coated.
- Add the calvodos, cider, chicken stock, honey, thyme, and bay leaf to the pan. Nestle the chicken into the pan and raise the heat to high. Once the mixture has reached a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 40 minutes turning the chicken at the halfway point.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate. Stir in the crėme fraîche and heat through. Adjust seasoning to taste. Return chicken to pot and serve.
Notes
- Bone-in chicken thighs also work
- You can substitute regular cognac/brandy for the calvados as well or apple cider
- You can substitute apple cider for hard cider. Skip the honey if you do this. If you are also swapping apple cider for the calvados, you might do 1/2 cup cider and 1/2 cup chicken stock.
- You can substitute plain Greek yogurt or sour cream for the creme fraiche
Keywords: chicken, apples, french