Apple, Cranberry, and Carraway stuffed Chicken

We had company visiting from France and I wanted to do a pleasant meal for them the one night they would not be hitting a restaurant. I am the perpetual hostess and so love entertaining. I adapted this recipe from epicurious.com, made a few changes but mostly stuck to the recipe. There is no better sensation than to make someone feel at ease in a place that they are unfamiliar. I know the many different countries I have experienced and the new foods. I want to be able to impart a bit of my “home cooking” to these wonderful people and hope they will consider it as a great memory! (As a side note, one of the visitors has not been here to visit in 13 years, my husband and I hosted him back then and he remembers it all) I have to apologize. I was not able to take a bunch of pictures of me cooking while we had our company here. I will post the finished product but… it feels empty without a bunch of how to pics =/

For stuffing

1 Granny Smith apple
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 celery ribs, sliced crosswise 1/8 inch thick
1/2 cup coarse fresh rye bread crumbs (with or without seeds)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons dried currants (or dried cranberries)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For chicken and pan sauce

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 lb)
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup unfiltered apple cider (I used organic apple juice)
1 cup chicken broth (you will more than likely need more to keep the sauce from getting to thick.)

Make stuffing:
Peel and core apple and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté caraway seeds, stirring, 1 minute. Add onion and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add apple and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining stuffing ingredients. Cool stuffing completely.
Stuff chicken:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Pat chicken dry and arrange, skinned sides down, on a work surface. Remove tender (fillet strip on side where breast bone was) from each breast half if attached and reserve for another use.
Cut a pocket in each breast half:
Beginning at center of thicker end of breast, insert a small knife horizontally, stopping about 1 inch from opposite end. Open incision with your fingers to create a 1-inch-wide pocket. Pack one sixth of stuffing into each pocket.
Cook chicken:
Pat chicken dry and season with salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken in 2 batches, about 2 minutes on each side, transferring to a small roasting pan as browned (reserve skillet).
Roast chicken in middle of oven until just cooked through, 14 to 16 minutes.
While chicken is roasting, stir flour into fat remaining in skillet and cook roux over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in cider and broth and bring to a boil, whisking, and then boil, whisking occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 1 cup, about 8 minutes.
Let chicken stand 5 minutes, and then cut each breast half diagonally into thirds. Add any juices from roasting pan and salt and pepper to taste to sauce and spoon over chicken.