I have three challenges everytime I think about making dinner. One kid is crazy picky, hates most meat and loves dairy. The other loves food, especially meat, but is allergic to milk and eggs (peanuts and shrimp too). I love butter, bacon and cheese but that's irrelevant. I have moderate skills in the kitchen, so whatever I cook needs to be easy-ish. And fast. Because, if left for too long to their own devices, someone gets hurt. My kitchen is tiny. My goal is always to make the same dinner for everyone with at least one thing on the plate that appeals to everyone. Oh wait, that's more than three challenges.
Moving on.
So, excluding spaghetti night, I usually succeed in making everyone happy about once a week. Which is totally fine with me. This week it was apricot chicken that brought us together in happiness. And while Mr. Pants rejected the chicken meat itself, he drowned his rice in the sauce and licked his fingers clean. And he ate up all of his broccoli (the side I know they like) and asked for more. Plum ate her serving(s) as though she had just returned from Survivor: Baby Starvation Camp and hadn't eaten in months. Sucking the sauce off the chicken and then eating it. Enjoying each bite twice. I had to add a little rice at the end to sop up the juice from my plate, otherwise I would have licked it. Which I am not above doing, I just wanted more rice. When Daddy got home from work, he wasn't hungry but he ate a spoonful of the sauce and declared it awesome. Which made me prouder of myself than I care to admit.
So here's the recipe that inspired it. My friend Lynn, made some modifications when she made it last week and I followed her lead because she had declared it yummy. She wasn't blowing smoke. The only allergy substitution I needed to make was Earth Balance for the butter. And I used boneless boobs instead of on the bone. It turned out like heavan. Heavan.
Moving on.
So, excluding spaghetti night, I usually succeed in making everyone happy about once a week. Which is totally fine with me. This week it was apricot chicken that brought us together in happiness. And while Mr. Pants rejected the chicken meat itself, he drowned his rice in the sauce and licked his fingers clean. And he ate up all of his broccoli (the side I know they like) and asked for more. Plum ate her serving(s) as though she had just returned from Survivor: Baby Starvation Camp and hadn't eaten in months. Sucking the sauce off the chicken and then eating it. Enjoying each bite twice. I had to add a little rice at the end to sop up the juice from my plate, otherwise I would have licked it. Which I am not above doing, I just wanted more rice. When Daddy got home from work, he wasn't hungry but he ate a spoonful of the sauce and declared it awesome. Which made me prouder of myself than I care to admit.
So here's the recipe that inspired it. My friend Lynn, made some modifications when she made it last week and I followed her lead because she had declared it yummy. She wasn't blowing smoke. The only allergy substitution I needed to make was Earth Balance for the butter. And I used boneless boobs instead of on the bone. It turned out like heavan. Heavan.
Oh my God, I did that!
This is what I ended up doing. Get the original recipe from here.
The goods:
1 cup apricot jam (I used preserves)
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth (I used water and 1/4 c soy sauce)
8 split chicken breast halves, on the bone (I used skinless boneless boobs)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened (I used Earth Balance)
12 dried apricots (about 4 oz.), cut into thin slivers
Make it:
Preheat oven to 375
In small saucepan whisk together the top three ingredients and make a saucy sauce.
Seaon the chicken with S&P and lay it flat in a big old baking dish.
Pour the heavan sauce over the chicken. Coat it up. Dot the Earth Balance on top and sprinkle the apricot slices. Throw it in the oven and bake til done. Baste a few times to keep things nice and juicy.
Ours was done in 35 minutes.
I served it over jasmine rice with trees on the side.
The goods:
1 cup apricot jam (I used preserves)
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth (I used water and 1/4 c soy sauce)
8 split chicken breast halves, on the bone (I used skinless boneless boobs)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened (I used Earth Balance)
12 dried apricots (about 4 oz.), cut into thin slivers
Make it:
Preheat oven to 375
In small saucepan whisk together the top three ingredients and make a saucy sauce.
Seaon the chicken with S&P and lay it flat in a big old baking dish.
Pour the heavan sauce over the chicken. Coat it up. Dot the Earth Balance on top and sprinkle the apricot slices. Throw it in the oven and bake til done. Baste a few times to keep things nice and juicy.
Ours was done in 35 minutes.
I served it over jasmine rice with trees on the side.
