Apricot Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar

I found this recipe randomly on the internet when searching around for chicken recipes and I thought it looked incredibly delicious. Probably my sweet tooth kicking in, but I love the idea of mixing dried fruits with a chicken dish.  So here it goes....


Ingredients: (serves 2)

Olive oil (2 Tablespoons)
Chicken breast chopped up (225gr)
Rice
Onion (half)
Dried apricots (6)
Apricot preserves (80g)
Chicken broth (60 ml)
Thyme
Parsley
Salt
Pepper


Start by boiling the carrots in a pot til they are soft and tender. Remove from water and chop them into fine slices.

Heat up the oil in a skillet and add the chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) when the pan has reached a medium-high heat. Once the chicken has reached a light brown shade and is still slightly raw on the inside, add the onion and cook until translucent (I would even cook past translucent and the onions start to slightly caramelize and turn slightly brown/golden). Add the balsamic vinegar and bring to a simmer to let it reduce a bit.

Cut the apricots in half and add them to the mix along with the 60 ml of chicken broth. Straight after, add the carrot pieces. Bring to a simmer and then add the thyme and the apricot preserve. Unfortunately I couldn't fine the apricot preserve so I had to do without it, but I read that a jam or marmalade would also work as a substitute.


Finally, lower the heat and let the mix sit for a while with a lid on top to avoid losing too much water. My sauce turned out more liquid than I would have liked (in the absence of the apricot preserves) so I suggest adding corn starch to thicken the sauce.

Fill your bowl with rice and pour the apricot chicken mix on top.