Cook’s notes
Apples in a savory dish? Yes! Meat stews that count fruit among the ingredients are lovely, and this chicken apple stew will turn you into a believer. A welcome bonus is that you need only one pan to cook the stew from start to finish.
For best results, use Granny Smith or other baking apple. Baking apples hold their shape better despite the long and slow cooking. They are less watery too so there’s no danger that you’ll end up with a soup rather than a stew.
Bell peppers in any color can be used in this chicken apple stew. But if you’re planning on serving it for the holidays, a combination of red and green is the way to go.
How much salt and pepper you need to add during cooking depends on the composition of your lemon pepper seasoning. We use homemade. The flavor of store bought lemon pepper seasonings varies. Some have more salt and pepper than others.
We use homemade herb salt at home which contains rosemary, thyme and oregano. If you don’t have herb salt, you may want to add a few pinches of dried herbs to your chicken apple stew.
Chicken and apple stew
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram chicken thighs, skin on (2.2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 2 bell peppers deseeded and diced
- 4 plump tomatoes diced
- salt
- pepper
- 2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Wipe the chicken thighs dry with a kitchen towel.
- Mix the chicken with lemon pepper seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. Marinate in the fridge overnight.
- Melt three tablespoons butter in a thick-bottomed frying pan. Brown the chicken thighs on both sides, scoop out and set aside.
- Add the remaining butter to the pan and throw in the chopped onion. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramelized.
- Add the garlic to the onion, stir and cook for half a minute.
- Throw in the tomatoes and bell peppers. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for half a minute.
- Stir in the apple wedges, lemon juice, sugar and reserved marinade.
- Arrange the chicken in the pan in a single layer. Cover the pan tightly, turn down the heat to low and stew the chicken in apple and vegetable juices until done.
- Off the heat, taste the pan juices and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Depending on your palate, you may want to add more salt, pepper, sugar or lemon juice, or all of them.
- Sprinkle in chopped parsley before serving your chicken apple stew.
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