Originally posted by Jess – October 29, 2015
As I moved through a day full of bus stops, piano lessons, and Halloween parties, I couldn’t stop thinking about dinner. The boys were having leftover Halloween yummies, so I could cook a bit of a grown-up meal for me and my husband tonight. I had 2 Springdell chicken wings thawing in the fridge, and wanted to dress them up somehow. I recalled a caramel apple pork chop dish I had made a few years back…
It was sweet and creamy, but I found it just a tad too sweet for dinnertime. Maybe I could use the tart cranberries somehow in a similar sauce for the chicken? Time was also of the essence, I only had about 30 minutes to pull something off without throwing off schedules.
The nice thing about Springdell chickens is that you can make a hearty meal out of just the chicken wings. Eight minutes in the pressure cooker with salt, pepper, and a bit of chicken stock and they were tender and ready. A quick trip under the broiler before serving would crisp up the chicken.
Meanwhile, I worked on the sauce concoction. I took 2 cups of cleaned cranberries placed them in a single layer in a baking pan. Next I covered it with 1/2 cup packed brown sugar.
On top of that, I layered a few thinly sliced apples and thin slices of butter (about 1 tablespoon worth). Into the oven at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.
Here it was after 10 minutes, I gave it a stir.
Here we are at 20 minutes, looking good!
The final 5 minutes added a nice deep color to this caramel sauce.
It was a lovely dressing for the chicken. The cranberries brought the right amount of tartness, and with the sweet apples I could have even cut back on the sugar a little more, but it was great as it was, too. I love it when a plan comes together!
I took the meat off my chicken wing and dressed it up with the carrots and spinach in a bowl. If you’re a parent, you’re probably well aware of those hurried meals that you scarf down whilst standing at the kitchen counter? I must say that this was the best stand-up meal I’ve had in a while!
I have big ideas for the excess cranberries and apples from tonight’s dinner experiment. It took all my willpower to keep from eating this whole cup for dessert. I might make it into a peanut butter and cran-apple sandwich tomorrow, we’ll see. It’s yummy stuff.
Thanks for tuning in, and see you tomorrow, everyone!