Chicken with Apples

It's been awhile since I made this dish and I'd almost completely forgotten about it. I don't know what caused me to remember it, but once I did I had to make it. When I was growing up my mom made a lot of dishes like this, ones with thick, creamy sauces. We all know how much I like sauces. SP says it's the Polish in me.

I'm not sure where the recipe for Chicken with Apples came from***:


... but it is definitely comfort food. Like with most dishes, the meat is secondary for me. I love the egg noodles mixed with chunks of apple, celery and onion swimming in the thick, sour-cream laden sauce. Usually I make this dish with chicken breasts on the bone or even chicken thighs because they stay juicier, but I had a ton of boneless chicken breasts in the freezer so I used some of those. That was a mistake - the chicken was dry and tough. But the rest of the dish was great, even though I used white wine and chicken stock instead of the apple juice the recipe calls for.

UPDATE: Here's the recipe.

Chicken with Apples

4 chicken breasts, with the bone (this is crucial or the chicken will be dry)
1 medium onion, cut into large dice
2 celery stalks, cut into large dice
1 large Red Delicious apple, cut into large dice
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup apple juice or white wine
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper

Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the chicken breasts on both sides. Place into a baking dish and cover with the apple, onion and celery. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the skillet and add the flour, stirring until it's incorporated. Add the apple juice and cook until thickened, then add the sour cream and turn off the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Uncover and bake another 30 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

*** 2nd UPDATE - My mother reads my blog and she provided the back story for this recipe: The recipe for chicken with apples was first made by me in the summer of 1973. This was the first summer (while I was in college) that I did not go home. I was looking for a recipe to make, probably for a boyfriend, and came across this one. I really don't know where I first got it, but it was written to have wine instead of apple juice. One time I was making it for a group of people and didn't have wine so I decided to substitute apple juice. I like it this way now. So this recipe is tried and true and going on 34 years of satisfying hungry diners. And it makes a knock-out chicken salad the next day!