Chicken With Apricots And Cumin Food

MOROCCAN ROAST CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS

Steps:

• Spatchcock the chickens - see tip, below, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Put the olive oil, coriander, sumac, cumin, fennel, chilli, garlic, lemon zest and juice, pomegranate molasses and some ground black pepper into a food processor or blender, and whizz to a paste. Divide between 2 large food bags, add a chicken to each, then squeeze out the air and seal before giving everything a good squelch to coat thoroughly. Marinate for 24-48 hrs in the fridge, turning and squishing every so often.
• Fire up a barbecue and let the flames die down, or heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Lift the chicken out of the bags and season well with salt. Barbecue or roast the chicken for 25-30 mins on each side until crisp and cooked through. Set aside on a platter, loosely cover with foil, to rest while you do the apricots. If you roasted rather than barbecued, keep the tin juices warm for serving.
• Put the apricots in a small, snug roasting tin. Whisk the preserved lemon, honey, orange blossom and vinegar with some seasoning. Pour over the apricots and roast, or sit on the barbecue, for 20 mins until soft.
• Serve the chicken with any cooking juices, the apricots and saffron yogurt.

CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS AND CUMIN

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole and fry the chicken thighs for 5 - 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over. Remove from the pan.
• Add the onion and garlic to the casserole and fry for 5 minutes or until soft and golden.
• Stir in all the spices and fry for 1 minute, then add the stock.
• Return the chicken to the casserole together with the carrots and fennel.
• Bring to the boil.
• Stir well, then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Remove the lid. If there is too much liquid, boil to reduce it slightly.
• Add the apricots to the casserole and stir gently to mix. Simmer over a low heat for a further 5 minutes.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the fennel leaves and serve with rice or potatoes.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES AND DRIED APRICOTS

Steps:

• Make the spice mix: In a small bowl, stir the spices together.
• Prepare the chicken: Cut it into 1-inch (3 cm) cubes. Rub with the ½ of the spice mix, oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside (if you have time, you can leave the chicken to marinate for a few hours or overnight in the fridge).
• Prepare the vegetables: dice the onion, cut the garlic into thin slices, carrot into thin, about 1/16-inch (1-2 mm) slices, bell peppers into 1/4-inch (0.5 cm) stripes, zucchini into 1/4-inch (0.5 cm) half-slices, apricots into small pieces (approx. ½-¼-inch / 0.5-1 cm pieces).
• Cook the onions and garlic: heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a big frying pan. Add the onions and a small pinch od salt. Cook the onions over medium-low heat until soft, stirring from time to time. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer the onions and garlic to a plate.
• Cook the chicken: Set the heat to the highest setting. Add another tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken pieces, cook on one side until browned, then turn over and cook until almost cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a plate (don't mix the chicken with onions though), it doesn't have to be cook through completely, it will be later briefly stewed with the vegetables.
• Cook the vegetables: add all the chopped vegetables in an even layer to the pan, sprinkle with the remaining spice mix. Don't stir for the first few minutes!! Wait until the vegetables at the bottom are nicely browned, then stir everything thoroughly.
• Add the onions with garlic back to the pan, add the chopped apricots and broth.
• Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Vegetables should be tender but still have a bite to it.
• Add the chicken back to the pan and simmer for 1-2 more minutes (the chicken should be now cooked through). Take the pan off the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, stir everything together.
• Make the couscous: season a cup of couscous with salt and pepper, pour a cup of boiling water / broth over, stir and leave for 5 minutes. Stir in chopped parsley.
• Serve the chicken with vegetables and couscous.
• Enjoy!

APRICOT CHICKEN II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. Combine the apricot preserves, vinegar and brown sugar. Pour the preserve mixture over the chicken, cover, and bake for 50 minutes.
• Remove cover and bake for 10 more minutes.

CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS

Steps:

• Combine apricots in a bowl with vinegar, wine and 1/4 cup water. Let soak while you brown the chicken.
• Turn the heat to medium high under a 12-inch nonstick skillet, and add chicken pieces, skin side down. Cook, rotating but not turning pieces so they brown evenly. When they are nicely browned - take your time - turn them so they are skin side up. Make a little space to add the onion, and cook, stirring the onion occasionally until it has softened a bit, a minute or two.
• Add apricot mixture and bring to a boil; cook for a minute, then turn heat to low and cover. Cook until chicken is done, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover, raise heat and season chicken well with salt and pepper. Boil away any excess liquid; sauce should not be too watery. Serve with white rice or any other cooked grain, or bread.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS

Steps:

• Chop the chicken into bite size pieces and salt and pepper.
• In a heavy skillet heat oil and saute chicken in oil until brown and cooked through.
• Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm while you make the sauce.
• Add onions and garlic to the skillet and saute.
• Add flour, cinnamon, cumin, and ginger to skillet and mix well.
• Whisk in chicken broth.
• Stir in apricots, lemon juice and honey.
• Boil sauce for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon; while the sauce is boiling occasionally stir to prevent burning it.
• Coat the chicken with the sauce by either mixing the chicken back into the skillet or mixing both chicken and sauce into a serving dish.
• Sprinkle with toasted almonds.