>>So I love chicken with peaches, it just reminds me of summer.

And this particular cider is infused with a lovely peach flavor, and it just goes together so perfectly.

So today, we're gonna make a peach salsa and a peach marinade for the chicken.

So, let's get started.

Right now, I'm gonna make the marinade, and it's simple to do.

You can use a blender or you can just mix things up if you want.

I have half of a peach, and I just wanna peel that peach, and then just kind of cube it up just a little bit and put it down in my blender.

Now the peach can be used fresh, or you can use canned if you have to.

If you're in off season, definitely use a canned peach for this.

You may not be able to use it with the salsa, but still the marinade is wonderful, and I think you'll enjoy this all year long with canned peaches.

So I'm gonna take 1/2 of this fresh peach, and I just wanna peel off all of the peelings and then stick it chunked into my little blender.

And then I'm gonna add a few ingredients that will just make that chicken break down a little bit, get those fibers from the meat all nice and tender for me, and give me some amazing flavor.

So the first thing is a red chili pepper.

Now, I grow these every year in my garden, and I keep them from one year to the next.

I grow so many.

This one is actually left from last year, and it's dried, so I'm just gonna pop that in.

Now if you want, you can use a little fresh jalapeno for that.

3/4 of a cup of rice wine vinegar, and I'm using a seasoned rice wine vinegar because then I don't have to add any extra sweetness or salt.

And I wanna add about 1/2 cup of olive oil, a little less oil than I have vinegar.

Now, let's just process that.

Okay, so I have a little salt and pepper.

I'm just gonna sprinkle in a little salt and pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, or half and half, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Just gotta swish it around there.

Now I've got 4 chicken breasts that have been skinned, de-boned, and trimmed of any sinew.

I wanna take my wonderful marinade and just kinda pour over that.

And I like to start with a little bit of chicken first, then let's pour in more chicken.

That way, we're not getting little pockets of chicken that have not been marinated.

And then get under that chicken.

Make sure that you stir that through, so that the chicken is marinating under the meat and on top.

And then I really like to let this sit overnight, an hour at minimum.

So let it rest a little while while you do any other dishes that you want to do for your dinner.

Now I have a batch of chicken that I marinated overnight, and it's all ready to go in my pan.

You wanna make sure that you have a grill pan really, really hot, and then be sure to turn it back to about a medium high heat so that you don't completely smoke up your kitchen.

Drain the chicken as well as you can before you put it on the grill, knowing that the flavor has really imparted into the meat.

(chicken sizzles in pan) So once you've made that marinade and you've marinated this chicken, it takes no time at all for the chicken to be done and for you to make this salsa.

So, it's super easy.

I want to take 4 really nice ripe peaches, nice fresh peaches for this.

And again, you can make peach salsa with a canned peach, but it's just not the quality that you get with a fresh peach salsa.

So then peel off all of that skin from the outside, all that peel, and then you just want to cube up your peach.

I always try to get freestone peaches when I can for this recipe, so that the peach seed, the pit, pulls away immediately, and then you don't end up with a lot of lost peach.

You'll notice in the grocery store that a lot of the peaches that you find that are canned say cling peaches.

That's the difference.

Cling peaches simply means that the pit clings to the fruit.

Freestone peaches means that the pit comes away from the fruit.

It's super simple, but a lot of people just don't know that.

They're not aware that that's what the definition of cling and freestone peaches happen to be.

So this recipe can also be made with pineapple, and pineapple is usually fresh all year round because you can get it at the grocery store anytime of year.

So if you wanna make a pineapple salsa and a pineapple marinade, that goes great.

And I suggest that you look for a cider that has a pineapple flavor to it, or you can even pair this with a very tropical Chardonnay.

Now I'm gonna add some red onion, about 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup red onion, depends on how much onion you like in your salsa.

I like a little bit.

Oh, about 2 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons of a nice fresh lime juice.

And then I'm gonna take 2 tablespoons of brown sugar that have been packed, and then I just loosened them.

And I wanna take 1 red jalapeno and 1 green jalapeno.

I like the color in my salsa.

If you'd like, you can always grate in a little bit of lime zest, but it's not necessary.

And then I wanna add, oh, 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Let's give that a stir.

You want to let your salsa sit for maybe 5 to 10 minutes before you serve it.

You can make this the day before, but remember, it will get very syrupy.

So you want to make sure that if you're using fresh peaches, they look like fresh peaches and they taste like fresh peaches.

Mm, this looks and smells amazing.

All right, let's give that chicken a check.

Mm, beautiful.

I'm just trying to get cross hatching on both sides.

I'm going to grab my plate, so I can get my plating started.

Today, I'm going to serve this with a little bit of sauteed snow peas and some cilantro lime rice.

So, let's give this a taste.

I am so excited about this pairing.

Again, this peachy wonderful apple cider.

Mm, look at that sparkle, all paired up with the peaches and the chicken.

Ah, can't wait.

All right, let's give it a little try.

Mm, I can see the residual marinade on the chicken.

I love that.

Oh, wow, what a pairing.

Mm, I love that.

It is so good.

The chicken, the peach, and the apple.

Wow, what an amazing flavor.

So the next time you wanna pair up a grilled chicken, a little peach salsa, and some delicious cider, hope you'll give all this a try.

(bells ring)