Apple chicken (v. 0.9)

[redbird]

This is based loosely on memories of something a Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn did for a while in the 1980s, some googling, and what we had in the house tonight.

Ingredients: chicken breast strips (a bit over half a pound, I think: the package had more than that, but I didn't use it all)
one apple (large, red, I don't recall the variety), sliced fairly thin (not peeled, though I suppose you could)
about an ounce of thinly sliced white onion
a hunk of ginger root (call it half an inch), peeled and sliced into thin sticks
apple cider (U.S. term: unfiltered apple juice), probably a bit under a cup
peanut oil
tarragon
powdered cinnamon (I used true cinnamon, but cassia should be fine)
rice (long-grained white)

Start the rice first, so it will be ready by the time the rest of the food is cooked. Stir it periodically as you go (or not, if you get better results that way; it's your rice).

Heat some peanut oil in a large frying pan over a medium light. When it's hot, saute the apple slices until soft, with a little bit of the ginger (I think this took about five minutes; timing may vary depending on your frying pan). When the apples are soft, take them out for the moment.

Add a bit more oil, and a little onion. (I had sliced an entire small onion, and used much less than that.) Saute for a minute or so, and then add the chicken strips. As soon as they're cooked on one side, turn them over. With the less-flat pieces, turn them on edge to try to cook all sides. (This never works perfectly, but it seems to help.) When the chicken is cooked on all sides, sprinkle on cinnamon and tarragon, and pour in apple cider. I used enough to cover the bottom of the pan; this wound up being too much, because my stovetop isn't flat, so having any liquid at the uphill end of the pan meant having quite a bit at the downhill end.* Put the apples back in. I realized there was more cider than intended or desirable for a sauce, and added more tarragon. I did not add more cinnamon, because cattitude is less fond of cinnamon than I am.

Cook the liquid down a bit, and serve over rice. Given the thinness of the sauce, I spooned out plenty of chicken, and almost all the apple, ginger, and onion, and left quite a bit of liquid in the pan.

Next time, I'm going to use less liquid. Also, I want to include a little chicken broth (which we have in one-ounce ice cubes for such purposes). If I didn't have apple cider, I might try this with a mix of water, cider vinegar, and broth, or I might cook something different.

*When this stove was installed, the installer didn't adjust for the floor not being flat.

[Cross-posted to off_recipe]