Tandoori Apricot: The Tuesday night save

Tuesday is the night I struggle with dinner. I can no more explain this to you than quantum physics but I have developed an ease of use method which has truly saved me when I also have chicken, pork, or shrimp on hand. This preparation for an exotic sweet and spicy dish always gets raves and not a soul is any the wiser that I was not in the kitchen slaving, but rather, had my nose stuck in the monitor devouring every last word of Crazy Days and Nights (guilty pleasure). Don't judge me, I am immune to it anyway. Obviously.

Alright, then. Everyone ready? You will need to get on the horn and order up a bit of Tandoori Spice from Penzey's or something to that effect. Just be sure it is a good one, as you know, this is a best-in-class blog so, do right by me, okay?



Tandoori Apricot Chicken, Pork, or Shrimp

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put the trimmed or clean protein on your board and dust it liberally with the Tandoori Spice, and then salt and pepper. Just remember Tandoori can be mild in small amounts and fiery in large, so take it easy the first time and use more next time if you can tolerate it.

Now, add a bit of olive oil to an oven-proof skillet and over medium high heat, get the oil very hot, until it just begins to smoke. Place the seasoned meat in the pan and brown on both sides, keeping the heat up to be sure it does indeed brown/ caramelize.

Just before the meat is finished, add two heaping tablespoons of good apricot preserves to the pan and a touch of water, chicken stock, or orange juice. Move it a round a bit so that the meat is coated. Place the skillet in the oven and cook the meat until it is complete finished. Slice festively and serve over rice, topped with the pan sauce.

If you wish to concentrate/ reduce the pan sauce a bit, remove the meat from the pan to a warm plate and place the skillet on medium heat on the stove, bring to a simmer and allow it to reduce by half. Pour over the meat and rice as above.