My first dahlia bloom unfurled this month, which means that summer is here in all her vibrant, cheerful glory. The explosion of flowers and veggies in the garden is well worth the constant wiping of sweat from my brow that comes with any visit to the yard these days. And there’s a saying in some cultures that hot in means hot out, aka eating spicy foods helps you sweat more, which in turn cools you down. I don’t know if it’s true on a scientific level, per se, but it’s a great excuse to infuse just a liiiiittle more spice into life. And my go-to means to do so is through this very oldie-but-goodie Apricot Habanero Jam recipe from the early days of my blog way back in dusty ol’ 2013. And one of my favorite ways to use said jam is by making a roast chicken with an apricot habanero glaze to go with it.
I used the jam as the base for the glaze for this roast chicken, as well as, apricot halves, onions, and salt and pepper. After roasting, the apricot halves retain their shape until you attempt to cut them, and in that instant they melt into a delicious apricot, thyme, and chicken-flavored jelly, perfect for spooning over the sliced chicken meat. It’s got a great zip to it thanks to the abundance of ginger in the jam, and the apricots add just the right amount of sweet + tartness to the mix. The thyme and the habanero add some heat and herbal freshness to it, and when you cover the chicken with the apricot habanero glaze and roast it until the whole thing caramelizes, you get something akin to poultry perfection.
Now, when you have a glaze with sugar in it, it does brown the skin of the bird more quickly, so make sure to have some tin foil handy to tent the bird to keep it from browning too quickly. (This is also mentioned in the recipe instructions, but it doesn’t hurt to say it twice because it’s that important. Nobody likes a burnt patch of chicken skin.)
Also, I just want to note that the apricot habanero jam makes more than what you need for the chicken’s glaze. So definitely store the excess in a jar in the fridge and enjoy it on a plethora of toppings, from buttered toast to grilled cheese to a fancy cheeseboard dip. I’m still enjoying the last of my batch from a couple weeks ago and it’s been elevating my PB + J’s to a whole new level. And our Portland home is still on the market, FYI, so if you know of anyone interested in moving to the rose city, please pass it along 🙂 No looky-lou’s please, serious buyers *only* (it takes a lot of energy, both physical and mental, to get ready for a showing!) Have a wonderful week, dear reader!
Apricot Habanero Jam
Ingredients
- 1 pound apricots pitted and chopped
- 1 habanero finely chopped
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
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Bring the apricots, habanero, ginger, sugar, thyme, and lemon juice to a boil over medium high heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until it has thickened significantly and become jam-like in consistency, stirring every 5 minutes or so.
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Pour the jam into the sterilized 8-ounce canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace at the top. Secure the lids as tightly as possible and process the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Store the jars in a cool dark place and use within 1 year. Once the seal is broken, keep refrigerated.
Roast Chicken with an Apricot Habanero Glaze
This roast chicken has a zippy apricot and habanero glaze with thyme and ginger, for the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and a lil' spicy.
Ingredients
Apricot Habanero Glaze
- 2 tablespoons apricot habanero jam
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Roast Chicken with Apricot Habanero Glaze
- 1/4 cup apricot habanero jam
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound apricots halved and pitted
- 1 large yellow onion sliced
- 1 roasting chicken about 3-5 lbs
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 2 cups water
Tools
- kitchen twine
- tin foil for tenting
- 3 sterilized 8 ounce canning jars
Instructions
Apricot Habanero Glaze
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Mix together all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
Apricot Habanero Roast Chicken
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Start by preparing the apricot and onion bed. Mix together the apricot habanero jam, olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Place the apricot halves and sliced onion in a roasting pan and toss with the jam mixture until coated. Spread the onion slices out so that they make a layer on the bottom of the pan and arrange the apricot halves around the edge of the pan.
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Place the chicken in the center of the pan and generously rub the outside and inside of the chicken with the Apricot Habanero Glaze, gently edging your hands underneath the skin of the chicken breast to get the mixture underneath the skin as well.
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Stuff the cavity with the sprig of rosemary and tie the legs together using a piece of cooking twine. Pour the 2 cups of water into the pan around the chicken. Tent the pan with tin foil, ensuring that it is secured and closed on all four sides, but poke a small 1 inch hole in it to allow excess steam to escape. Make sure the tent does not touch the actual skin of the bird (otherwise it will cook onto it and tear the skin off when you remove the foil). This step is VERY important, because if you do not tent the bird with tin foil, it will brown too quickly because of the high sugar content of the glaze, and while the inside of the bird will still be moist and tasty, the outside will look *quite* crispy.
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Place the pan in the oven on the lowest rack and roast for about 1 hour, basting halfway through. At the 40-minute mark, remove the tin foil, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and place the chicken back in the oven to get golden brown until the thigh joint is at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, another 15 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and allow the juices to cool for 15 minutes before serving. This way, the bird retains more moisture, whereas if you carve the bird right away the juices will drain out of the meat more rapidly. Enjoy!
This recipe looks amazing. Your photos are simply gorgeous. I would love to try the recipe, but finding apricot habanero jam in Portugal is unlikely. I will have to get creative or wait until I return to the US and bring some jam back to Portugal. I love your creative recipes and have shared many of them with friends. I recently made your plum cake with whiskey glaze as the plums here are super good. I have been following you for some years now and I want to thank you for sharing your creativity with everyone and inspiring me to take chances and experiment.
Daryl thank you SO much for this wonderful note! I’m so glad that the recipes have inspired you to try new things, it’s always such a wonderful feeling when you discover a new flavor you love. And as for the habanero substitition, you can try it with another spicy pepper if you’d like! It would be slightly different flavor-wise from the habanero but still very tasty with the sweet + spicy + salty combo 🙂
gorgeous chicken and a very inspired sauce, love the sweet and spicy combo, thank you!
Aw thanks Sabrina! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! This is definitely a favorite flavor combination of mine for sure. Something about that apricot and habanero together….just MAGIC.
This was soooo tasty. I made a number of variations based on what I had in the pantry. I used dried apricots- couldn’t find fresh, used a slice of Serrano, grated the knob of ginger and garlic. I couldn’t find my thyme so left it out unfortunately, but placed a twig of rosemary and a few red onion slices in. Maybe won’t use garlic next time as it has such a prominent flavor…but either way, it was stellar. The apricot has a luscious texture and taste with the chicken. I’m always looking for some different flavors for my husband and this was perfect. We both loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh my goodness that makes me SO happy to hear!! It really is such a wildly good flavor combo, and I’m so glad that you guys enjoyed it! I could see it tasting really good with rosemary, I’ll have to try it like that next time I make it!
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