Originally posted by Sarah – November 24, 2015
Set it and forget it, that’s today’s meal. Especially for me, a business owner, the few days before a holiday are crazy! Crazy in a good way, it means business is good, and thankfully I love my job. I’m sure a bunch of you are feeling the holiday crunch as well, two days until thanksgiving. Did you all order your birds from Springdell?
Today we are using a bird, but not a turkey. For this meal I used chicken thighs, but you could do this with basically any chicken parts. I placed six of these guys in the slow cooker just after lunch.
A whole cup of those beautiful cranberries were added
Half a cup or so of applesauce (I whipped this up in my vitamix from an apple in the winter share box)
Then I added 1 1/2 cups of apple cider. Set this on high for 4 hours.
Smells great but looks horrible. Never fear, this is not the end product. Those cranberries have done their job with this meal, they need to go.
Take this opportunity to remove the chicken thighs, putting them aside for later. Strain the solids out of the cooking liquid and discard them. The cooking liquid will be reduced down into a sauce. Add a fresh 1/2 cup of cranberries to the pan.
Get this really bubbling on the stovetop. The cranberries will start to pop, that’s a good thing. We need to reduce the sauce for quite a while, 10-15 minutes until it’s thickened and about 2/3 of the liquid has evaporated. This intensifies the flavored in the sauce.
To finish off the sauce I stirred in 1 Tablespoon of butter and 2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. I love the little kick the cranberry and balsamic give to this dish, it really brightens up the flavors.
Pour the sauce over the chicken thighs, sprinkle with some parsley if you’d like and you have a great dish. Enjoy!
