Asian Fusion Apricot Chicken

The product of desperation became the subject of praise last night when
I threw together a stir-fry out of whatever I could find in our cupboards, and Ariel wouldn't shut up about how great it was. He was thrilling this morning to discover there were leftovers available for lunch.

Considering my usual fail when trying to make any kind of Asian food, I rolled my eyes at the capricity of recipes and decided to write this one down.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp tamari or soy sauce, divided
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp peanut oil
5 ribs celery, leaves trimmed off
1 onion
1/3 cup cashews
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup boiling water
7 dried apricots, chopped
1 tsp red curry powder
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Put the coconut in a strainer, and run some water over it to wash off some of the sugar. Then put it into a medium-sized bowl. Pour the boiling water in with the coconut and leave to soak.

Slice the chicken into strips. Combine 2 tbsp tamari and the cornstarch in a bowl, then add the chicken strips and toss to coat.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and spread it out so as much is in contact with the pan as possible, then leave it there to cook until it is no longer sticking to the pan when you try to separate it with a spatula (about 4 minutes). Visually, this means 2/3 opaque (cooked-looking) and golden on the bottom. Raise the heat to high. Turn the chicken over (it will stick together like a big patty at this point, and that's fine) and cook on the other side until cooked through. Remove to a bowl.

If the skillet's caked with chicken breading, pour a cup of water into it and let it boil a minute or two. Then pour out the water into the sink and scrape off the stuck-on bits. You can use this trick anytime there's stuff stuck to your pan, by the way.

Return the pan to the heat. While it's heating back up, stick your immersion blender in with the coconut and blend it until mostly smooth. What? You don't have an immersion blender! Get one, they're awesome! In the meantime, use a regular blender or food processor. When you've pureed the coconut, add the cashews and apricots to the mix.

Now the pan is good and hot, add the vegetables. Cook and stir quickly, since you're using high heat, until the onion is tender. Add the spices, and cook for 30 seconds.

Then pour in the coconut mixture, nuts and all, and add the remaining 2 tbsp tamari. Stir, then add the chicken. Cover the pan, turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer for 2 minutes, then stir again and serve.

Substitutions:
1. Try coconut milk instead of the pureed coconut mixture. You might want to add 1 tbsp sweetener in this case.
2. Try pineapple instead of the apricot.