This recipe is fast becoming a family favourite. As I write this, we have just had Mark’s childhood friend Steve and his wife Gill around to lunch along with my niece Jaks and her friend Kat. Its a great recipe to have up your sleeve as everything can be done in advance of the meal and simply heated through with some fresh garnish sprinkled on top at the last minute.
Mark and Steve have known each other since they were about 8 years old when Mark and his widowed mum went to live with Steve’s family. They had moved towns and were waiting for their own house to be completed. The boys became fast friends, lived together later as adults and now have been able to re-connect as life has more time and space in it again. There’s lots of “d’you remember when? and what was that song?” Along with tapping sides of noses in a knowing way and winks and nods at past escapades perhaps too risky for our ears. Its a lovely thing.
The Chicken with Apricots Dish – Serves 8
1.5 kg skinless boneless chicken thighs
150 g dried apricots
1 large onion roughly chopped
3 plump garlic cloves pressed
large bunch (25 g) coriander chopped (reserve some for garnish)
1 large green chilli finely chopped
thumb of fresh ginger grated
juice of half a lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a large wok or frying pan while you cut the thighs into 4 pieces each.
I’ve included the photo above to show what is meant by “browning the meat.” Often what happens is the oil/pan isn’t hot enough, then the meat releases some of its own fluids and next thing you know you’re actually boiling the meat and its surface remains the palest of the pale. The trick is to make sure your starting heat is smoking, then keep the number of bits of meat limited, and in between adding more to the pot, allow the liquid that is in there to heat up and burn off anything watery. So…..you’ve guessed it. The first thing to do is to brown the meat.
While you are browning the meat, get on with chopping everything else.
When all the pieces of chicken are browned nicely, add everything to the pan and stir until it is completely mixed. Allow to simmer gently until the chicken is well cooked through. This should probably only be about 15 minutes more, but thighs are really quite forgiving and won’t dry out like breasts do.
I have also made this dish with the addition of 2 medium carrots chopped in which works really well, both from the visual and the taste point of view. See photo below.
As you can see, I served ours with plain steamed English asparagus topped with butter and shaved fresh parmesan and quinoa and red rice salad.
[amd-yrecipe-recipe:3]
24 Comments
glamorous glutton
July 8, 2015 at 2:36 pmThis looks delicious and a great dish for lots of guests. GG
Germaine
July 8, 2015 at 4:25 pmIt is both delicious and great for lots of guests. Thanks so much GG
Linda
July 10, 2015 at 10:08 pmHi Germaine, I’ve just cooked the Chicken with Apricots as I need something to re-heat tonight when I get home and we need to feed our grandson quickly . This recipe looks perfect. But mine looks nothing like yours and it has virtually no liquid. Any ideas? I must say, though, that I followed your ‘browning’ instructions to the T and it worked perfectly – thanks for that.
Germaine
July 11, 2015 at 6:21 amI’m really sorry to hear your result was unsatisfactory Linda. Could have been the differently produced chicken? Did you add a bit of water? Did it taste good? Glad the browning technique worked though.
Alison Ritchie
July 20, 2015 at 1:13 pmI tried this but it was a bit oily – did I use too much olive oil? Yummy taste and nice and quick to prepare and cook
Germaine
July 20, 2015 at 2:04 pmMaybe it was the chicken?? Don’t know but sorry it wasn’t perfect…try again with less olive oil???
MyCookingSerects.com Krystallia Giamouridou
July 31, 2015 at 7:06 amI am really glad to see this chicken-appricot combination! It adds a bit of sweetness to the chicken… thank you for sharing the recipe
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 1:06 pmThanks Krystallia….
Shivani Saxena
July 31, 2015 at 7:47 ami love anything with apricots!
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 1:06 pmMe too Shivani
Brian Jones
July 31, 2015 at 9:27 amIt was not until fairly recently that I realised that some people think the fruit with savoury is wrong, not for me though… I love dried apricots in savoury dishes 🙂
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 1:07 pmMe too Brian. Thanks
shashi at runninsrilankan
July 31, 2015 at 11:07 amI am so intrigued – I’ve often cooked with pineapples and mangoes, but never apricots! This sounds and looks perfect with some crusty bread!
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 1:07 pmIt would be perfect with some crusty bread. Thanks Shashi
lydiaf1963
July 31, 2015 at 1:18 pmMy first thought was, “hmmm apricots are in season here” but it’s even better that this recipe uses dried fruits.
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 2:06 pmDried fruit are indeed very handy to have in the kitchen cupboard. Thanks Lydia
Lubna Karim
July 31, 2015 at 1:49 pmChicken and apricots….this sounds a winning combo….
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 2:06 pmThanks Lubna
Deepika@EasyBabyMeals
July 31, 2015 at 5:51 pmThis recipe sounds so delicious.
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 11:17 pmThanks Deepika…
Nataliya
July 31, 2015 at 7:25 pmYummmmmmmmm. Apricots are just one of those ingredients that goes with everything. Well, most things. 😛
Germaine
July 31, 2015 at 11:18 pmA lot of things….thanks Nataliya
shobelyn
August 1, 2015 at 9:08 amBoy this looks good… and it is nice to have friends that has been with you since ; your hubby is lucky
Germaine
August 1, 2015 at 9:18 amThanks Shobelyn…..I am indeed lucky…