Blue Cheese Chicken with Apples

Recipe from Janice Cole via Epicurious

Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

This was a big hit at our house. You can’t go wrong with these ingredients. They were meant for each other. This dish is simple enough to make on a weeknight, but nice enough to serve to guests at a dinner party.  The original recipe calls for using the oven and does not include onions or sherry.  I read the reviews of this recipe and adapted it according to the reviews.  Yum!

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (You could also use boneless chicken thighs.)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried, crushed

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 ½ teaspoons olive oil

1/3 cup dry sherry or white wine

1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced

2-4 peeled Honeycrisp or Fuji apples, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick

2 ounces (1/3 cup) Stilton cheese, crumbled (You could use any blue cheese or feta cheese or goat cheese.)

Season the chicken breasts well with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the rosemary.  Melt the butter with the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides, turning once. Transfer to a platter.  Cover with foil tent or a lid. Add the apple and onion slices to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, or until slightly softened and lightly browned. Add the sherry to the skillet deglazing the pan, scraping the browned bits from the skillet. Add the chicken along with any juices that have accumulated back to the skillet on top of the onions and apples. Cover and simmer a few minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the lid and scatter the cheese over the chicken and apples.  Replace the lid and remove the skillet from the heat.  Allow the cheese to melt.  While the cheese is melting, wash and dry the platter.  Place the chicken back on the clean platter, surround the chicken with the onion/apple mixture and drizzle the whole thing with the cheese sauce.