Good human

This picture has nothing to do with what's on my mind. I can't help but wonder who is looking at whom here:


I try to be a good horseman and I think most people will tell you I do right by my horses. They're living beings and I've never thought of myself as their "owner" but rather their "guardian". And there's no reason for them to be without anything they need.

And I've always felt their (my?) training should be enjoyable for them. Oh of course issues arise and we've had fleeting moments of unpleasantness. But I do this for fun and I'm not going to have fun if they're not having fun. When you do it right they're just hanging out with the herd. Which is what horses want out of life.

I try to be better at this all the time. The better I do it the easier it is for them to do what I ask. And why on earth would I want anything to be harder than it has to be?

To a large extent I try to make it up to them. I've done some really stupid things and thankfully nobody's been hurt. Not badly anyway.

And this time of year, after some hard work and a nice ride I really like one of these:

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And before I forget the recipe, here's my take on Chicken Normandy:

Look closely - those are finely chopped mint leaves on the green beans. That was really very good.

• Chicken thighs or quarters
  
• Some butter
  
• One apple. I used McIntosh. Cored. Slice into wedges. Maybe 8 to 12 wedges.
  
• One onion. Slice it into wedges. However you like.
  
• Seasoned flour
  
• Bourbon. 1/3 cup.
  
• Apple cider. 2 cups.
  
• Some salt, cracked pepper. To taste. Always.
  

This is less work than it appears at first glance. I don't do anything that's difficult or takes a lot of work!

Get a tablespoon of butter going in a cast iron pan over medium high heat. When it's hot and the foam has subsided toss in wedges from your cored apple. You can peel it if you want. I like "rustic" so I didn't. I think a Cortland apple would probably be pretty good. All I had was McIntosh. So I used McIntosh.

Dredge your chicken in some seasoned flour.

When the edges of the apple wedges are browned, take them out and drain them. Add another tablespoon of butter to your pan and brown the chicken. Both sides. Take the chicken pieces out and put them on a plate.

Now add onion wedges to the pan and cook them until they're browned. There's going to be browned and burnt looking stuff in your pan from the floured chicken. That's ok, that's flavor. When the onion is well browned crank up the heat. As soon as the pan begins to smoke just a tiny bit...

Put in (your favorite) bourbon. I use what I drink. If you're at a loss I think Maker's Mark is pretty good.

When the bourbon is almost gone put the chicken in the pan, skin side up, and pour in the cider. Do not cover the chicken with cider.

Now put this in a 350 degree oven.

After 30 minutes take it out and put it on a medium high burner, remove and set aside the chicken. Put the drained apple wedges in the liquid and reduce to about half. Crack some pepper into it.

Turn off the heat and whisk in a pat of butter until it looks shiny and silky. Put your chicken on a platter and spread that over the chicken and serve.

This is seriously good.

Oh and I was actually a little surprised. I'd had a half a bottle of merlot sitting around and it was really good with my Chicken Normandy.