Apricot Thyme Chicken

First, get your ingredients prepped because when you begin putting the sauce together, the cooking goes quickly. So you will want to have everything on hand. Start by finely chopping shallots.

Slice dried apricots in half. I like to slice mine lengthwise so when they cook and puff up a bit in the sauce, they look like fresh apricot slices. The trick with fresh thyme is to run two pinched fingers down the sprig. The leaves will fall right off and you don’t have to chop a thing.

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Get a large skillet ready by melting 2 tablespoons butter and add 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Once the pan is hot and butter is melted, add chicken to the pan to brown on each side. I cook my chicken for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until it is golden brown. Don’t worry about cooking it through at this point—you are going to return the chicken to the pan to finish cooking it in the sauce.

Once chicken is browned on each side, remove it to a plate and then add in remaining 1 tablespoon butter and oil. Add shallots and cook on medium low heat until slightly translucent (about a minute or so).

Deglaze pan by pouring in white wine. Cook wine for about a minute, being sure to get all of the delicious brown bits on the bottom of the pan mixed in. Whisk in mustard, and when mustard is fully whisked in, add apricots, cream and thyme. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Return chicken breasts to the pan and partially cover skillet with a lid. Let chicken cook all the way through on medium low heat, flipping them once or twice. I had medium-sized chicken breasts and they took 8 minutes to cook all the way. While chicken is cooking, the sauce will thicken and apricots with plump up in the sauce.

I like to serve this dish with wild rice; it would also go well with mashed potatoes. The sauce is particularly delicious, so it is good to serve it with something that you can pour a bit of the sauce on as well. This recipe serves four but you could easily double it and brown the chicken in two batches if you are serving it for more.