Apricot chicken

This dish is such a classic and shamefully easy.  It oozes 1970s appeal.  It’s as if not only 1970s interiors were orange – so was the food!  I wouldn’t call apricot chicken devastatingly handsome.  But it’s straightforward and surprisingly tasty.  The brats will gobble it down.

By now, I trust you know which ingredient I’ll be starting with:

Ah that’s better.  On to the rest of the ingredients.

3 large potatoes – $2.00

100 g frozen peas – $2.00 for 500 g

6 chicken thighs – $8.72

100 g dried apricots – $5.00 for a 200 g packet

1 tin apricot nectar – $2.00

1 sachet of French onion simmer soup – 95 cents

Now let’s get cooking!

Step 1 – preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

Step 2 – Place chicken thighs in Pyrex dish side by side:

Step 3 – place apricots next to / in between thighs:

Step 4 – shake apricot nectar, open tin and pour into saucepan:

Step 5 – add soup mix to apricot nectar:

Step 6 – on high heat, bring mixture to boil while stirring.  Remove from heat just as mixture begins to thicken:

Step 7 – pour mixture over chicken and apricots.  Make sure the sauce covers the apricots, otherwise they will burn:

Step 8 – season with pepper:

Step 9 – and salt:

Step 10 – place in oven:

Step 11 – cook for 40 minutes.  At 20 minutes, briefly remove chicken from oven, stir sauce and turn over each chicken thigh.  At 10 minutes, again remove chicken from oven, stir sauce and re-turn over each chicken thigh to its original position.  Finally remove from oven:

Step 12 – while chicken is cooking, cook potatoes and peas:

Step 13 – mash potatoes, adding milk, butter, salt and pepper.  Then it’s time to eat, …..

Step 14 – …… drink and be merry: