The story behind the recipe
I spent Christmas in Corsica in 2020. My dad was born there and I still have a good size family on the island. Since I live essentially in the US, I do not get to see my Corsican family as often as I would like. So when I managed to plan to spend my entire holiday there, I was ecstatic! It was full blast Covid times, so we did not go out too much. But I got to spend more time with my aunt, Nenette.
The main question every day was of course about food (remember Corsica is still France…), and what we could fix for the meals of the day, as the table was often pretty full with family and friends. My aunt being an excellent cook, she was never short on ideas and whatever she prepared was always delicious. One day, she said: “How about doing something quick and easy for once?” “Sure, like what ?” I said. “Apricot Chicken” she answered!
“We are on, what to you need?” I answered. “Chicken, onion soup mix and a can of apricots in syrup.” Quite surprised by the minimal number of ingredients, I was kind of curious to see the result of such a simple dish.
So we proceeded to prepare this Apricot Chicken (5 minutes once all the ingredients are handy), we threw it in the oven, and after about 20 minutes we added the final ingredient, the apricots.
I couldn’t wait to taste it, and when I did, it was delicious! My aunt laughed at my surprise because she saw the earlier doubt on my face. We fixed a simple rice to accompany the Apricot Chicken, and we had another delicious meal that everyone at the table enjoyed.
I choose to share this story and recipe with you because less than one month after I left Corsica, very sadly my aunt passed away and I miss her dearly. This recipe is posted here in her honor, she was an inspiration to me, I admired her kindness, her unconditional love, her cheerful nature, and her positive way to embrace life, no matter what.
So have a thankful thought for Nennette when you prepare this recipe coming straight from her heart…