I like skillet meals for the blending of flavors and easy clean up. Here is one in which dried fruits and lemon add vibrant flavor. You can use any one of the fruits listed or a combination of them. This is from “Home Cooking” by Mary Poulos Wilde, who suggests it be served with buttered noodles and homemade whole wheat bread.
Ingredients: [‘butter’, ‘almonds’, ‘frying chickens’, ‘salt’, ‘pepper’, ‘vegetable oil’, ‘dried thyme’, ‘lemon’, ‘dried pears’]
Quantity of Ingredients: [“3 tablespoons butter”,”1/2 cup almonds, chopped “,”3 lbs frying chickens, cut into serving pieces “,” salt, to taste “,” pepper, to taste “,”1 tablespoon vegetable oil”,”1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, dried, crumbled “,”1 lemon, scrubbed, thinly sliced, seeds removed “,”2 cups dried apples or 2 cups dried peaches”]
Number of Servings: 6
Steps: [‘Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large skillet (one that can be used for serving) and saute the almonds until they have a toasted flavor.’, ‘Remove the almonds from the skillet and set aside.’, ‘Salt and pepper the chicken pieces lightly on both sides.’, ‘Add the vegetable oil to the skillet.’, ‘When the oil is hot, brown the chicken well on all sides, but do not cook through.’, ‘Sprinkle the pieces with crumbled thyme and arrange the lemon slices and dried fruit evenly throughout the skillet.’, ‘Cover tightly and reduce heat to a slow simmer.’, ‘Cook for about 40 minutes until the chicken is tender, spooning accumulated pan juices over all at intervals of about 10 minutes.’, ‘Sprinkle the almonds over all and serve from the skillet.’]