Normandy Chicken Braised in Cider, Calvados and Cream

What you need

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on, about 1.2 kg (2 3/4 lb)
• 40 g (3 tbsp) butter, divided
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) calvados
• 250 ml (1 cup) dry cider
• 3 sprig thyme
• 1 leaf bay leaf
• 250 g (9 oz) button mushrooms, quartered
• 2 firm apples, tart-sweet, such as Braeburn
• 200 ml (3/4 cup) double cream, heavy cream
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Pat the chicken dry and season all over with salt and black pepper.

2. 2

   Melt 20 g (1 1/2 tbsp) of the butter in a wide heavy pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken skin-side down until deep golden, 6-8 min, then turn and brown the other side for 3-4 min. Move to a plate.

3. 3

   Pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat. Cook the shallots in the pan over medium heat until soft, about 3 min.

4. 4

   Return the chicken to the pan and pour in the calvados. Carefully light it with a long match, standing back, and let the flames die out, 20-30 sec.

5. 5

   Add the cider, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook gently until the chicken reaches 74 °C (165 °F) at the thickest part and the juices run clear, 30-35 min.

6. 6

   Meanwhile, melt 10 g (2 tsp) of the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the mushrooms until golden and their liquid has cooked off, 6-8 min. Season with salt and set aside.

7. 7

   In the same pan, melt the remaining butter and fry the apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges, until golden on both sides, 5-6 min. Set aside.

8. 8

   Lift the chicken onto a plate and cover with foil. Remove and discard the thyme and bay leaf.

9. 9

   Stir the cream into the pan juices. Boil over medium-high heat, stirring now and then, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 6-8 min.

10. 10

    Add the mushrooms and simmer 2 min. Return the chicken to the sauce and warm through for 2 min. Taste for salt and black pepper.

11. 11

    Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over and the apple wedges on top.

Imported from noseychef.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.