Braised Chicken With Apples and Sage

Not terrible, but just too sweet with all the apples.

• jessilein

• 10/31/2020

Having read reviews reporting bland and not enough sauce, I increased the sauce and seasonings. I made this to rave reviews from family! I used 2 cups of broth, 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, 2 tsp fresh thyme, 2 tsp fresh sage, 1 minced garlic clove, a hearty dash of cayenne, and a hearty dash of coriander. I used 3 apples, but could have done with 2 (large). I put a sage leaf and a few thyme leaves under the skin, then browned in cast iron with a smaller cast iron on top to both flatten the chicken, crisp the skin, and to contain the splatter. I cooked 10-12 minutes, then removed. After browning the shallots and garlic, I added all the sauce ingredients, delaying apples until I added back the chicken, fearing they would be mush. Fabulous!

• kellyqski_epicurious

• Lakes of Maine

• 9/19/2020

Quick and easy, but the flavor was pretty bland. Too bad I didn’t read the comments beforehand, so I didn’t make any modifications. I used homemade chicken stock which was unsalted, so that didn’t help the flavor. If I am out of time I might make this again adding extra spice and maybe cream at the end to make the sauce more, well, sauc-y.

• godlovespeg1734

• Anaheim, CA

• 10/8/2019

As a kid my favorite meal was "chicken and noodles" with cream-of-chicken soup. I'd never use that soup base now as a sauce. I love this bit more sophisticated version, especially with a little half and half at the end. But also as written. Goes well with Brussels sprouts on the side as cold weather arrives.

• Anonymous

• Minnesota

• 11/2/2017

Thought this was too bland. After reading reviews I added a little dijon mustard and increased herbs. Still didn't wow us and still didn't have much flavor. Won't make again, too many really delicious chicken thigh recipes on epicurious and other sites.

• mainers

• 10/17/2017

A lovely weeknight recipe for Fall. Easy to make. One suggestion: add walnuts in the last two minutes. They provide a great texture contrast to the softened apple. Fresh sage makes a difference in this dish -- dried would be nice, but it will lose a bit in the process.

• Anonymous

• Silicon Valley, CA

• 8/10/2012

So awesome. I used regular chicken breasts and thighs, boneless and skinless, and its still amazing.

• Huitzi42

• 7/26/2012

This was a hit last night. I could see where it might benefit from a little tweaking. I had to substitute dried sage for fresh. I happened to have homemade chicken stock on hand; so I am sure that altered the flavor profile from the original recipe. (my chx stock had celery cinnamon and sage)

• maggiemai78

• 2/1/2012

This is one of our staple dinners in the colder months. I always add some apple cider to the sauce, and just before serving I add some heavy cream. It's delicious!

• Revana

• New Hampshire

• 11/24/2011

My husband and I really enjoyed this healthy recipe with some small tweaks that we learned from other reviewers. Out of our two young, picky were not huge fans; one liked the chicken only, the other didn't like either the chicken or apples, so parents of young kids, you are taking a risk, but I would go for it. My tweaks were to reduce the chicken (and skinless breasts), up the apple to three large galas, 1/2 tsp of cardamom, 1/4 cayenne, apple cide vinegar, lemon zest to brighten at the end - and more shallot than called for.

• westvanmom

• West Vancouver, Canada

• 11/28/2010

Made this recipe'close' to 'as written'. I added an extra Tbls. of brown sugar & I only used '6' chicken theighs. I tasted the sauce and thought it was not bad as written with the extra sugar. I was curious to see how the addition of 3 Tbls. heavy cream at the very end as suggested by some of the other reviewers would taste so I added some cream to the sauce. The cream added a nice creaminess to the texture but it dulled down the appearance of the sauce a little making it look cloudy. I would give this a 'good' and not a 'great'. I may make this again in a pinch because I usually have all of the ingredients on hand. My husband agreed it was 'ok / good' but not great. It seems like a lot of the people who recently tried this recipe, including myself {guilty!},have felt compelled to 'tweak' it a tiny bit.

• sandart

• Close to Manhatten

• 11/7/2010

I made this dish and followed the other reviewers suggestions by adding about 2 tbsp of sage, a 1/2 tsp of cayenne, and 2 tbsp of cream at the end- delicious. As to the philosophical purpose of reviews an the use of 4 forks, I find the reviews incredibly useful and one of my favorite attributes of Epicurious over other cooking sites. I can tweak a dish to my liking using the knowledge of other cooks, so I do not find it annoying but extremely helpful in producing a meal of my liking. If I didn't want the network of other cooks' inputs, I'd read a cookbook. My respectful opinion.

• aboyet

• St. Louis

• 5/14/2010

Am I the only one annoyed by those who review a dish only after they have changed up most of the ingredients in the recipe, and then give themselves a 4-star rating? (See jennaddenda from Milwaukee below) Seriously, while the new recipe may in fact be delicious, the review is of no help to those who wish to try a new recipe based on the merit of the original ingredients.

• Anonymous

• PGH

• 2/11/2010

Perfect for a mid-week, winter meal. For two, I used only a leg/thigh each & one apple, but kept sauce amount the same. Out of cider vinegar, so I used white wine vinegar with a splash of Calvados - worked great. Only one shallot in the fridge, so I used it along with a fat elephant garlic. I served it with the cabbage recipe (from the same issue of the magazine) - quick and tasty.

• Anonymous

• Winnipeg

• 1/2/2010

I altered this recipe a great deal due to the fact that I was serving it with the Fingerling Potatoes and Oyster Mushrooms recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fingerling-Potatoes-with-Oyster-Mushrooms-235160. First, I substituted molasses for the brown sugar. I also substituted mushroom stock for the chicken stock, which, by turns means that I substituted sherry vinegar for the apple cider vinegar. I braised it up until the last 5 minutes, at which point I stuck the whole skillet in the oven to broil on high so that the skin would crisp and the sugars would caramelize a bit. Result = awesome.

• jennaddenda

• Milwaukee, WI

• 12/5/2009