Cheers!

Since going gluten free, I had to give up drinking beer... which I didn't really mind too much since it's full of calories and makes you belch and pee a lot.  But it's one thing to CHOOSE not drink beer very often and it's a totally different idea to be UNABLE to ever drink real beer again.  There are a few really great GF substitutes out there, but they are super pricey and hard to find in the stores.  A fairly good alternative has always been hard cider, like Woodchuck. All it's made with is fermented apples and it has always said naturally gluten free right on the packaging.  The only issue with hard cider is that it is very high in sugar and calories, so I try to drink it sparingly.  One idea I've really been brainstorming with is ways to cook with hard cider... so here is my first experiment with fall flavors and hard cider:

Hard Cider Braised Chicken
4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp poultry seasoning
kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
2 T olive oil
1 large Granny Smith apple; peeled, cored and sliced thinly
2 small McIntosh apples; peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1 vidalia onion; peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 lemon; zested and juiced
1 T fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg (approx. 1/8 tsp)
1 bottle Woodchuck Hard Cider (12 oz.)
1 cup chicken broth
1 T butter
1 tsp tapioca starch

Heat up a large cast iron dutch oven or a large high sided skillet with the olive oil.  Season the chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.  Add the chicken and sear the meat for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until it's nice and brown on both sides.  Remove chicken and set aside on a plate.  Add the onion, apples and thyme and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Lower the heat and let the onion and apples sweat out and begin to soften.  Now add the garam masala, cinnamon and lemon zest and stir to combine.  For those of you who haven't used garam masala before, it's an indian spice blend that includes cumin, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon.  It's very fragrant and balances the sweet and savory flavors that I'm going for in this dish.  Next add the hard cider and chicken broth and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Return the chicken to the pan, nestling it into the liquid so that it is just shy of being completely covered.  Bring it up to a boil, put a lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer for about 45-50 minutes.  At this point the chicken will be cooked all the way through, tender and very moist.  Remove the chicken to a serving plate and crank up the heat under the pan to reduce the sauce.  Take the room temperature butter and tapioca starch and smash them together in a small bowl so that it is combined well and add it to the sauce.  Whisk together and then stir the entire sauce.  Let it bubble away until it thickens to a desired consistency and taste for seasoning (adding salt if necessary).  Turn the heat off and stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice, then serve the chicken with the sauce and apple mixture poured all over the top.  I served this with a very simple rice pilaf dish that finished it all off nicely.

This dish was a very pleasant surprise... I honestly had no idea how it was going to come out... it was dancing the line between savory and sweet, and it had the potential to be a total fail.  But we really enjoyed this one - there was definitely a sweet aspect to it, but two things made it work - the freshness from the lemon juice added at the end made all of the flavors really pop.... and the small amount of butter added to the sauce at end made it a bit more smooth and finished.  I would definitely try this again.... maybe with pork chops... and maybe the addition of some fresh, sliced fennel would really make this recipe soar even higher!  Enjoy...