Chicken Scaloppine With Roasted Apricots

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the apricots in a baking dish large enough to accommodate them in a single layer. Place the butter, honey, cinnamon and ginger in a small saucepan or in a ramekin and heat until the butter melts, either on the stove or at 50 percent power for 25 seconds in the microwave. Pour over the apricots and toss together. Place in the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until the apricots are soft. Remove from the oven and turn the oven down to warm. Set aside.

2. Step 2

   Meanwhile, flatten the chicken breasts. If they weigh a lot more than 4 ounces apiece (they usually weigh about twice that) cut them in half. Place two sheets of plastic wrap on your cutting board or counter, overlapping slightly, to make a single large sheet, and brush lightly with oil. Place a chicken breast in the middle and place two more sheets of plastic on top. Working from the center to the outside, pound the meat with the flat side of a meat tenderizer until very flat, ¼ inch thick or (preferably) even thinner. Make sure you come down flat with the meat tenderizer, and don’t pound too hard; if you hit the meat with the edge, you will tear it.

3. Step 3

   Season the pounded chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a wide dish. Dredge the chicken breasts lightly in the flour, tap off excess and stack between pieces of parchment (you will not use all of the flour; discard what you don’t use).

4. Step 4

   Heat a wide skillet over high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When the oil is shimmering in the pan and you can feel the heat when you hold your hand a couple of inches above it, add as many pieces as will fit into the pan without crowding (that’s just one for my 12-inch pan) and brown on both sides, which should take only about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter or a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. Use the remaining oil for the next batches if necessary.

5. Step 5

   When all of the pieces have been cooked, turn the heat down to medium and scrape the apricots and all the liquid in the baking dish into the pan. Stir and scrape the pan to deglaze with the juices from the apricots. This should take less than a minute. Scrape out of the pan onto the chicken breasts and serve, with rice or couscous.