We went to Cold Hollow Cider Mill and learned quite a lot. They had a museum of sorts in the back explaining the process behind making apple juice; they had old equipment that they used to use as well as modern equipment. What I enjoyed most was all the tidbits they had posted on the wall that talked about cider vs juice, American consumption of cider and much more! They had this plus free samples. The samples included the two items shown along with a couple others. Upon eating the Apple-Chipotle BBQ Sauce I instantly thought that it would go well with chicken. Being a fan of apple cider myself, or anything apple for that matter, I thought to myself why not make some chicken with apple BBQ sauce.
For this post I’m going to take you all on a little journey to Stowe Vermont! A month or so back Kiley and I went on a road trip to meet up with some friends in Stowe. It was a solid 3 ½ hour ride, and while I usually cannot stand long car rides this one really was not too bad. To make this trip to Vermont extra special we went ahead and bought Apple-Chipotle BBQ sauce and Cider Vinaigrette. To top it all off we also stopped by the King Arthur store on the way back, which Kiley and myself loved!
Whether it's just another night of cooking or if you're looking to add some variety to your grilling,
Apple BBQ Chicken adds that smokey, grilled taste and packs a subtle apple punch.
Apple-Chipotle BBQ Chicken
As Kiley and I were preparing to cook she asked me: “What else would go well with chicken covered in apple BBQ sauce?” After a few minutes of brainstorming we came to the conclusion that walnuts would go very well with chicken. I feel like cooking with nuts is something people seldom do, unless they are adding them to salads. Being how expensive nuts are I don’t blame people for not cooking with them as frequently as I think they should be used in cooking, but sometimes a dish needs that something a little extra to make it that much better. Also, I’m one to usually only have salads when I have pizza ( I’m that person who thinks it’s ok to have something unhealthy so long as I balance it out with something healthy), but seeing how we bought apple vinaigrette why not add some salad to our meal.
If you cook like how Kiley and I cook then chicken is the meat of choice on a daily basis. This being said we usually skimp out on how we make chicken and cook it the same usual way- stove top with a variety of spices. By cooking chicken the same way, more or less, everyday sometimes it can lead to a monotonous dinner experience. By varying up how chicken is cooked you can make similar meals daily while avoiding the monotonous cycle, such as cooking it stove top vs grilled vs baked vs etc. Simple changes not only helps you to cook something new each and every time, but chances are you’ll have the ingredients needed to cook these meals, so extra trips to the grocery store are not needed!
Apple-Chipotle BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
Rice
1 tablespoon of butter
9 Chicken tenderloins (or desired amount)
~1/2 cup of walnut pieces
Apple-Chipotle BBQ Sauce
Lettuce
Baby spinach
Carrots
Cherry Tomatoes
Cider Vinaigrette
½ bag frozen brocolli (12-16 ounces)
Directions
1. Cook desired amount of rice in the rice cooker. If cooking rice stove top maintain a ratio of 1 cup rice to 2 cups water (using a vegetable steamer/rice cooker combo put in broccoli at this step, otherwise read ahead)
2. On the stove, heat to Medium/Medium-High.
3. In a large pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.
4. Cook chicken until golden on one side (about 6-8 minutes)
5. Once golden, flip the chicken to the other side. When it has been flipped, brush each piece of chicken with the apple-chipotle BBQ sauce.
6. Add the walnuts to the pan.
7. After the other side of chicken cooks to golden brown, flip each chicken piece again. Dress this side with apple-chipotle BBQ sauce.
8. Set heat to Low.
9. In a large bowl mix together desired amounts of lettuce, uncooked baby spinach, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. Toss together ingredients. Serve in smaller bowls and dress individually with cider vinaigrette.
10. Put ½ bag of frozen broccoli in a large bowl with about 2 tablespoons of water and microwave for 2-3 minutes, until cooked.
11. By now the rice should be done cooking. Serve rice with chicken and broccoli.
12. Enjoy!
Posted by Efrain on: 7/6/14