Crispy Apricot Chicken

I've been on a bit of an apricot kick lately. We've had apricot biscotti, this recipe, and stuffed chicken with apricots and goat cheese (see the Examiner site for that recipe later this week).

This recipe was adapted from Crispy Apricot Pork Chops that I blogged for the Examiner yesterday. I just wasn't thrilled with how the recipe turned out with pork, so we tried it with chicken. It was fantastic. I run hot and cold with pork (at least pork in a non-sausage or non-bacon form) and so having the option to use chicken is very helpful.

The recipe is from a new cookbook we bought at Costco a few weeks ago. Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. It's a cookbook from the Martha Stewart collection, and while I'm definitely no Martha (in fact I usually shy away from anything Martha related), I have to admit that this cookbook hasn't steered us wrong yet. What I love about the cookbook is that it tells you exactly how long a recipe takes to prep and to cook. As an added bonus, every recipe has a full color picture along with it and the pictures actually aren't that far off from what the food looks like!

The original recipe called for apricot jam, but I prefer to use Apricot Yum from Pipitone Farms. They have an interesting little fact on their jars of Yum. In order to be called Jam, a product must have 50% sugar! That's an amazing amount of sugar. Since well grown ripe apricots are incredibly sweet, it is a shame to add all that sugar to it. Apricot Yum does not have all that added sugar. In fact, it doesn't have any, making it much better for John.

Crispy Apricot Chicken from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

• 1 Tbsp oil of your choice
• 2 slices crusty bread
• 4 chicken breasts
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 Tbsp Apricot Yum (Pipitone Farms)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 and start your prep work. Tear the bread into large pieces and put the pieces in a food processor. Pulse until the bread now resembles large crumbs. The largest crumbs should be no larger than your fingernail.
2. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil into the crumbs and pulse a couple more times to moisten the crumbs. You're aiming for about 1-1.5 cups of crumbs.
3. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
4. Put a little oil on a baking sheet.
5. Lay the chicken breasts on the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
6. Spread 1 tsp of apricot yum on each breast. Top with breadcrumbs and pat gently so the crumbs stick.
7. Bake about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve.

Patricia's Notes: This was incredibly tasty. Using the apricot yum rather than apricot jam imparted a very strong fruit flavor to the chicken. We used a lot more yum than the recipe called for, and that wasn't a bad idea. The crispy bread crumbs were fantastic and I think the added texture was what made the recipe so perfect. The dish even reheats well in the microwave or oven.