For children that young I would be very careful with spices. To basic apple juice you could add some garlic powder and a bit of paprika. Marinate for at least a couple of hours, best overnight, then cook at low temperature in the oven or indirect heat on the grill. You don't want the apple juice to caramelize.

One trick with drummers, cut the skin where the meat ends and the bone starts to show. It will curl up and be easier to eat, especially with that long tendon.

Cider Brined Pork chops are delish. For Chicken I'd be more likely to use citrus as a base. Mixing grainy mustard (not too spicy or honey mustard) with a little citrus would be good.

Thanks!

Jasdip - I really really like the recipe. Looks scrumptious!

Ricky - that's a nice trick! I'll definitely do as you suggested.

Compumom - citrus season hasn't started here yet and I wouldn't like to use ancient citrus from last year, but I'll give it a try once we start getting new fruit. Unlike apple juice, I can't stand preserved citrus juice for some reason.

Last time they came over, I served peposo with plain white rice. The adults feasted on it and asked for seconds. The two young ladies seemed to like it as well but half way into the meal, the older one suddenly asked for ketchup. The younger one, who's far more adventurous, would have finished off her peopso as is, but once she heard the magic K word she had to have some too. The older girl drowned her meat with K, the younger wanted just a dollop on her plate and used it as a dip. Grrr!

I'd never heard of peposo so I'e learned something new today. It sounds delicious and nice to have a recipe that's unusual - no soffritto or tomatoes. I'll try that tonight! Thanks.

It's in the slow cooker! Looking forward to dinner

Thank you, wintercat. It was a very interesting dish that we both enjoyed. I was surprised that such a simple recipe could be so tasty and good.

I've never heard of peposo either and it sounds like the kind of thing that would be a big hit around here. Will add it to my "to try" list -- thanks, wintercat!

I can't suggest anything for the chicken/apple juice combo -- I'd prefer apple taste with pork and agree that citrus would be nicer with chicken. I used to make a pork and apple cider stew that was delicious, but cider is very seasonal here.

I have a Cooking Light recipe that I use with pork or chicken, and I like them both that way.

Cider Roasted Chicken

3 quarts water

1 quart apple cider

1/4 cup kosher salt

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 (6-pound) roasting chicken

2 cups apple cider

1 large onion, peeled and halved

4 flat-leaf parsley sprigs

4 garlic cloves, peeled

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Remove from heat; cool completely. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Pour brine into a 2-gallon zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning the bag occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Bring 2 cups cider to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until cider has thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup (about 15 minutes). Set aside.

Remove chicken from bag; discard brine. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Place the onion halves, parsley, and garlic into cavity. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken. Tie legs. Place chicken on rack of a broiler pan. Bake at 400° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until thermometer registers 175°. Remove from oven (do not turn oven off). Carefully remove and discard skin. Baste chicken with half of reduced cider; return to 400° oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; baste with remaining cider reduction. Transfer chicken to a platter.

Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour drippings into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings into a small bowl, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Serve jus over chicken.

I use apple juice interchangeably with cider, depending on which I have, and I'll do pork or chicken using this marinade, although it does take some organization to marinate the chicken over night or during the day.

Annie

Chicken and cider, yes. I'd think apple juice far too sweet.

Islay, here cider is not usually "hard" or fermented, it is simply juice pressed from apples and consumed raw, without heating. Unfortunately, commercial cider places have to pasturize their cider for safety reasons and that completely changes it. If I heat the cider by canning it, it just becomes apple juice. (sigh) So I freeze it!

So, my apple cider and apple juice are exactly the same thing, except the juice is heated in jars to seal it. It doesn't make it sweeter, but it does change the flavor.

Annie

We've made several recipes recently using apple juice or cider, both as a marinade and in a sauce.

We have not been impressed.

Pretty bland and it seems to add nothing to the meat.

It's hard to make anything with apple juice/cider as a savory dish, the sweetness is a distraction.

Apples with veggies - like squash, carrots, etc. are OK, and as a side dish to meat.

Thans for the info Annie. Cider in Europe is alcoholic! It is fantastic for cooking as well as drinking. We have sweet and dry cider like wine.

Islay, the production of hard cider is just now becoming a big business here in Michigan, along with the locally brewed "small batch" beer, so now "hard" cider is available nearly anywhere you can buy beer, 10 years ago you'd have to search to find it.

My favorite recipe is a pork loin that is brined with cider overnight and my son in law used an apple cider based brine for the heritage turkey we raised and it was the best turkey I ever ate, bar none, so I guess it depends on what you like. Taste is not objective, it's subjective, so where others, like Momj47 are not impressed, I like it. Then again I do not cook with wine or beer, both of which I dislike and others enjoy very much.

So, whether you will like your food brined or marinated with apple cider is a personal taste choice, I think.

Annie

I haven't been near a computer since Thursday and now I'm back, a Sukkot survivor.

Annie - thank you muchly for the recipe and the detailed instructions! Please send me some of your energy too!

Islay - I'm so glad you like the pepposo. I've been cooking this dish for years. At first I followed a recipe that didn't call for searing the meat but lately I started searing and the dish is even tastier. I wouldn't have believed it could get better but it does. Definitely worth the additional trouble.

At the moment of truth I went slightly crazy in mid-recipe and ended up improvising. I poured some apple concentrate (store bought, that's where my apple juice comes from), and mixed in some prepared Dijon mustard, then for some reason I threw in some balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce (why? because they were right there in the fridge). I think I splashed some white wine vinegar as well. I marinated the drumsticks for an hour, then took them out, boiled the marinade into a sort of sauce, poured over the chicken and sent to the oven. The adults liked it. The kids went back to their evil ketchup ways.

I don't care for brined with or without apple cider, but I do like to use cider or boiled cider in a couple savory dishes.

This one I make with either pork tenderloin medallions or chicken breasts pounded thin.

Pork Tenderloin with Cider Sauce

1/2 pork tenderloin, sliced into medallions and lightly pounded OR 1 boneless breast cut into a few pieces, pounded thin.

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

flour for dusting

1 Tb. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tb butter

2 large shallots, sliced thin

1/3 cup Calvados or Cognac

1/3 cup apple cider OR 1 Tb. boiled cider

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/3 cup heavy cream

Season medallions (or chicken) with S&P, lightly dust with flour. Heat oil in large skillet and saute for 2 minutes per side. Remove and keep warm.

Add butter to skillet and saute shallots until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add Calvados. Return to the stove, raise the heat to medium high and boil until the Calvados is almost gone, 1 -2 minutes. Add the cider and thyme and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half (if using cider) or just for a few seconds if using the boiled cider. Add the cream and simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Return medallions or chicken to sauce for a couple minutes.

Serve sauce on top of pork/chicken.

Serves 2.

~adapted from Fine Cooking

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pork-tenderloin-apples.aspx

Thank you CindyMac! I guess "boiled cider" is what I have, namely the apple juice concentrate? Or could the apple juice concentrate sub the boiled cider?

Isn't apple juice concentrate something you mix with water to make apple juice? If so, that would be a sub for cider.

Boiled cider is concentrated cider.

http://www.woodscidermill.com/PRODUCTS/BoiledCider.html

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/boiled-cider-1-pint