It snowed here last night! After a summer of cold and rain, it was not exactly a pleasant sight either. As I drove home from a Bible study at Amherst College in the evening, it felt and looked like a blizzard. The lights were shining brightly down on the school’s playing fields which only highlighted the amount of snow that was falling and blowing around in the air, as well as the blanket that had already accumulated on the field. Knowing the temperatures were going to drop into the low 20’s, I wondered how my recently planted mums would endure and whether or not the pumpkins decorating my front porch would survive until Thanksgiving, which is the date after which I might expect a little of the white stuff ~ not October 27! On my solitary run this morning, I had to carefully tiptoe over the bridges on our bike trail because they were covered with frozen snow.
I ran alone, because Robert got up at 3 a.m. this morning in order to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Texas where he will be speaking at the funeral of a dear friend of his and his family’s tomorrow ~ a beloved coach and teacher of Robert’s who had struggled off and on with health problems most of his life probably all stemming from a battle with Hodgkin’s disease as a 19 year old boy. He was 61 when he passed away on Tuesday. We were enjoying a bit of a “fall break” on Cape Cod when we got the news. Praying today that the Lord will speak words of comfort through Robert as well as extend an invitation to receive Christ to all of Coach’s friends, family, and fishing buddies ~ which is what Coach requested and what his wife has asked of Robert.
Came across a recipe a few weeks ago that inspired this one. It seemed such a perfect autumn dinner with its apples and apple cider, and my family raved about it. So, even though we’ve had a bit of a winter wonderland here, I’m trying to hang on to the last few golden days of fall! The leaves have turned from bright colors to a rusty version of each, which is almost as beautiful, but signifies the coming of the end of the season. I suppose the snow is an indicator of that, too! (boo hoo!)
Chicken Tenders & Creamy Cider Sauce
10-12 chicken tenderloins
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup GF flour (I used my rice, tapioca, potato mixture.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, finely chopped (I used a red one, as you can see ~ not necessary, just all I had!)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, sliced thin
1 tsp thyme (I used dried, not fresh)
1 1/2 cup apple cider (the real stuff, not juice)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
For Chicken: Combine GF flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Dredge each tenderloin in flour mixture and then place in skillet. Cook tenderloins in the butter/olive oil on each side until golden ~ about 7-10 minutes. Place cooked chicken in a baking dish and keep warm in a low temp oven until sauce is ready. Keep skillet drippings.
For Sauce: Heat skillet drippings and add onion, apple slices, and thyme. Saute for 3-5 minutes until apple and onion are softened. Add cider and bring to a boil. Keep boiling until there is a reduction of liquid of about one half. Now stir in cream, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper. Continue cooking and stirring until sauce is thickened a bit. Spoon sauce over chicken on each plate to serve. (You could also puree this sauce in your blender if you don’t want chunks of apple and onion!)
We had roasted potatoes, broccoli, and acorn squash with ours!
Related
Looks wonderful! We'll be trying it soon! Love, K&J
Yum!!!