Apricot Chicken

This is yet another steal from "A Year of Slow Cooking", the crockpot lady's blog. I had some apricot preserves in my frig and I wondered if I could pair it with chicken somehow...and low and behold, she had a crockpot dish that was just that. The picture I have shows it with rice, but it seemed like we'd been having rice every night and I know that Mr. Wonderful is not a big fan of rice, poor guy...he puts up with a LOT of rice-eating around here. So I made a couple of baked potatoes and that's actually what we ate, but I heard some faint murmurings (more like loud complaining) from the younger crowd about how they might die if potatoes were served to their Highnesses, so they were lucky and got some leftover rice from the night before to have with their chicken. Hence, the rice in the picture. Phew! That was a long intro, I know. But you've stuck with me, so I might as well give you the recipe now. Here's the link to go straight to where I stole it, but I changed one tiny thing, so here's mine, for the sake of using my pics and needless typing practice, I suppose....

What you need:

11 oz jar of apricot preserves

1/4 C. minced onions (Stephanie's recipe calls for: 1 t. dried minced onion flakes, but I didn't have any)* see below for update

1 T dijon mustard

1 T soy sauce (La Choy for gluten free)

1/4 t ginger

1/4 to 1/2 t red chili flakes (optional, I used 1/4 tsp.)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

How you make it:

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6. This cooked rather quickly, so it was a little more "done" than maybe I would have chosen. So next time, I'd do maybe 4 or 5 hours, instead of 7. And I need to get a crockpot that has a warm setting, instead of just high and low. It's was a wonderful wedding gift 12 years ago, but maybe I'll treat myself to a newer one with the high-techi-ness of a warm setting and maybe even a timed programmable setting too.

*Update 5/3/11: Used chicken legs this time and onion flakes instead of the raw onion. Have to say, SOOOOO much yummier! The bone-in lent itself to more flavor and moisture, and the onion flakes was a much milder onion component. I recommend doing it this way, if you can. Bone-in thighs would work too.