Chicken with Apricots - red wine vinegar

Method

• Put the apricots in a small bowl (or a 2-cup measure) and add the vinegar, wine, and about 1/4 cup water to cover.
• Let soak while you brown the chicken.
• Turn the heat to medium-high under a 12-inch nonstick skillet and add the chicken, skin side down.
• Cook, rotating the pieces (not turning them) so they brown evenly.
• When they are nicely brownedtake your timeturn them so they are skin side up and season with salt and pepper.
• Make a little space in which you can add the onion and cook, stirring the onion occasionally, until it has softened a bit, a minute or two.
• Add the apricots and their liquid and bring to a boil; cook for a minute, then turn the heat to low and cover.
• Cook until the chicken is done, 15 to 20 minutes; do not turn while it is cooking.
• Remove the lid, raise the heat, and season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
• Boil out any excess liquid; you do not want the sauce to be too watery.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve.
• A few fresh thyme sprigs, added at the beginning of step 2 and discarded before you serve the chicken, add another dimension to this dish.
• A tablespoon or two of butter, stirred in at the end, will make the sauce considerably richer.
• Or you might render some bacon, remove it, and brown the chicken in the bacon fat; crumble the bacon and stir it in at the end of cooking.