Delicious Apricot Chicken & Couscous

Last night, we really enjoyed a modified version of an Apricot Chicken recipe that I found at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/apricot_chicken/. That version calls for fresh apricots, which I did not have. It does explain how to modify the recipe to use dried apricots. The instructions below are for the modified version, but I also added fresh ginger, garlic, coriander, and carrots. Although the recipe called for two teaspoons of tabasco sauce. I just used one. Next time, I'll use two.

I served it over Moroccan-style couscous instead of rice. However, rice would work just fine. The couscous I used was Marrakesh Express plain couscous from Publix. It was delicious and very easy to make.

I found a nice Moroccan salad to accompany it. I will describe the salad in a separate posting.

Ingredients

• 12 dried apricots, roughly chopped
• half cup of apricot jam
• 2 pounds skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces
• Salt
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (can sub olive oil)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco or other hot sauce (you can add more if you like)
• Black pepper

My ingredient additions
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 inch of finely chopped ginger
- 1/8 tsp coriander
- 1/2 pound sliced carrots
- couscous

Directions

1 In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, place chicken pieces in the pan, without crowding the pan, and brown them on each side. As the chicken cooks, sprinkle salt over it. Once the chicken is browned, remove the pieces from the pan to a bowl and set aside.

2 Add the remaining oil to the pan, add the onions, garlic, and ginger to the pan, and sauté the onion until it begins to brown. As the onion cooks and releases moisture, use a flat edged spatula or wooden spoon to scrape off the browned bits from the chicken (called fond) from the bottom of the pan.

3 Once the onions have browned a bit, add the chicken stock, dried apricots, and apricot jam. Lower the heat to medium.

4 Add the cinnamon, rosemary, coriander, and Tabasco, and taste. You may need to add some salt. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and gently simmer for 10-20 minutes.

5 In a medium size sauce pan, bring water to boil. Place carrots in water and let simmer for 10 minutes or until carrots are tender. Just before starting step 6, drain water from carrots.

6 When you are ready to serve, put the chicken and carrots into the pan and simmer gently for 5 minutes.