Chicken In A Saffron & Longueville House Cider Mor Sauce
This recipe is for gorgeous chicken in a saffron & Longueville House cider Sauce. Last weekend, I spent a wonderful few hours at Bloom walking around the food tents. The variety and richness of Ireland’s food and drink industry was inspiring and it inspired me to try and come up with a recipe based on the products on offer there. I know very little about the beer and cider craft industry in Ireland apart from the fact that it is clearly blooming. All the producers spoke with great passion about their products and I whiled away a good while walking between the stalls, listening and tasting. I was first attracted to the Longueville House stand because of it’s name. My granny on my mam’s side is a Longueville. The merchant was very engaging and informative and after sampling their regular cider and their Longueville Mor, I settled for the latter. It is a mixed of their cider and their apple brandy. As a result, it is quite strong (8 degrees) and has a very crisp finish. You can read more about their award winning products over here.
I walked away happily with my bottle of cider and walked around the festivals for another couple of hours. If you get the weather, which we did, Bloom is an absolute glorious day out and I recommend it whole heartedly.
Below is some of the art that was on display and that I wished I had the money to bring them home with. But alas, maybe another time.
Chicken In A Saffron & Longueville House Cider Mor Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 chicken thighs
- 1 bottle of Longueville House Cider Mor
- 1 table spoon of za’atar
- 2 pinches of safron
- 1 teaspoon of piri-piri powder
- 5 cloves of garlic
Method
- In a large pot, heat up a little bit oil and place your chicken thighs skin down. Let them cook down until nice and golden for about 10 min. Keep a close eye on them as you don’t want them to burn.
- After 10 min, turn the chicken around and sprinkle it with the za’atar and piri-piri.
- Turn the chicken around again after an other 10 min and let it cook for another 10 min.
- At this stage the chicken is nearly cooked through.
- Turn up the heat for one minute until you hear the fat really sizzle.
- Add a small glass of cider. You’re talking maybe a 3rd of a pint. It will spit, sizzle and smell divine!
- Quickly toss in your grated garlic and your saffron.
- Add one small glass of water.
- Let the sauce reduce on medium heat for no more than ten minutes.
- Serve on a bed of garlic fried potatoes.
Please note:
Although I used a particular brand of cider, you can of course replace it with the cider of your choice. I do recommend a medium to dry cider as the sweeter cider may overpower the dish.
Other possible accompaniments for this dish would be:
- Roasted root vegetables
- Potatoes and celeriac cheesy mash
- Creamed mushrooms and spinach.
