Chicken with Pear and Sage

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 tsp olive oil
• thin slices Emmentaler or Gruyere cheese (about 1.5 oz total)
• 1 small pear, cored and cut into thin slices
• 1/4 C apple juice
• 1 Tbsp finely shredded fresh sage

 1.  Place each chicken piece between 2 pieces of cling film.  Working from the center to the edges, pound lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to 1/4 inch thickness.  Remove plastic wrap and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
2.  In a medium skillet heat oil over medium heat.  Add chicken; cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink, turning once.  Transfer to two dinner plates; top with cheese.  Cover and keep warm.
3.  In the same skillet cook and stir pear slices for 2 to 3 minutes or just until tender.  Add apple juice and sage.  Bring to boiling, scraping up any crusty brown bits from bottom of skillet.  To serve, spoon the pear mixture over chicken.

Robyn's notes: Good and quick.  There were a few bites where the sage was a little strong, it's not a flavour everyone likes, but it was mostly well balanced.  I used Gruyere (which it's been impossible to get for months, don't know how I lucked out this time) and the strength of the cheese against the sweet pear worked well.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Sweet and Spicy Turkey Skillet

• 1 8oz turkey tenderloin
• 1/4 C apple juice
• 2 Tbsp bottled hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (see notes, below)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1/2 C thin, bite-size strips red, green, and/or yellow sweet pepper
• 1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil
• 3 Tbsp cold water
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 small apple or pear, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges

1.  Cut turkey tenderloin in half horizontally to form two 1/2 inch steaks; set aside.  In a small bowl, stir together apple juice, hoisin sauce, ginger, salt, and cayenne; set aside.
2.  In a large skillet cook sweet pepper strips and onion wedges in hot oil over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes or until nearly tender.  Remove vegetables, reserving oil in skillet.  Add turkey to oil in skillet.  Cook about 4 minutes or until brown, turning once.
3.  Return cooked vegetables to skillet.  Add apple juice mixture.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until turkey is done.
4.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer turkey and vegetables to a serving platter, reserving liquid in skillet.  Cover and keep warm.
5.  Combine water and cornstarch; add to liquid in skillet.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Add apple.  Cook, covered, about 3 minutes more or just until apple is slightly softened.  Spoon apple mixture over turkey and vegetables.

Robyn's notes: I was really exceptionally pleased with this, I thought it would be just "ok" for me and that he would really enjoy it, but turns out I liked it a ton.  I'd not used hoisin sauce before, but I was able to plan more recipes to use it, so keep an eye out for those, coming up.  I used ground ginger, because the weirdest things are selling out at this point in the pandemic (can't get frozen mango for love nor money around here, and I could get it easily three months ago, and Golden Delicious apples are an impossibility these days).  I measured generously, because ground herbs and spices are not as strong as their fresh counterparts.  I used a pear, just because apples are getting hard to come by and I wanted to use what I could get to make applesauce.  I did not cook as long as these instructions direct, because I was using my enameled cast iron skillet, which retains heat like crazy.  The turkey would have been bone dry if I'd cooked it for that long.  So I did about 3 minutes in the oil, turning once, and simmered about 6 minutes, at the most, slicing through to check for doneness.  I'm glad I pulled it when I did, it was perfect.  Thickness of the turkey will have a lot to do with this, I sliced it butterfly style so it was fairly thin.  

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

(Bonus: the Welsh for "apple juice" is "sudd afal")