Comforting chicken apricot braise welcomes San Francisco’s chilly summers

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Many people assume that summer in California is all fun in the sun and that I must be able to wear shorts all the time, play hooky at the beach midweek or make salads for every meal. The reality is, I do love the beach, I also like shorts and enjoy many salads. However, whether it’s the marine layer, Karl the fog, June gloom or some other weather phenomenon, the reality is it’s sometimes kind of chilly in the summer, especially nearish the coast.

I think this is all partly because a lot of us want to believe in “endless summer,” myself included. That might mean believing you don’t need much more than the basics when leaving the house, or a few fresh market vegetables to create a great simple meal. But California is not some simple fantasy. Every aspect, even if it doesn’t fit the dream, counts, especially when we’re deciding what sounds good for dinner.

When it is one of those chillier summer days, it means that I don’t make smoothies for breakfast, I’m probably going to have a heartier lunch, and at night, I’m not eating ice cream. (Unless, of course, it’s brought to me on the couch with a scoop of jam and crumbles of Biscoff cookies while I’m in my sweats, under a blanket, watching “Hacks.”)

So when it comes to actual dinner, I say let’s bring back the braise because there’s nothing as comforting as a simmering pot of deliciousness on the stove-top filling the air with what’s to come to your plate. Chicken thighs braise easily and quickly, so you can start in the early evening and have dinner ready in a flash; if you work from home, like me, you can even start cooking between emails and just reheat right before you serve them up.

This week’s recipe for Apricot Chile Chicken is everything I want on a chilly early summer evening. It’s got all the comfort of a braise: incredibly tender, fall off the bone savory meat and a rich yet tangy-bright sauce with just a hint of heat. The apricots not only give it delightful tangy-fruity citrus-like notes (without making it too sweet), they also break down as they simmer with the chicken, making the sauce thicker, stew-like and perfectly spoonable.

Besides the apricots, golden brown seared chicken thighs simmer in fresh chile like serrano or jalapeño, which gives the final product a little heat but nothing too spicy or lingering. Garlic, shallot, a few warm spices like cinnamon and cumin, as well as some chickpeas round this out into a super simple meal that’s hearty but still fresh tasting.

When it’s all simmered and done, there’s not much else to do besides plating it up. But to make this a fancier dinner, I like to add a dollop of cooling labneh or Greek yogurt, cilantro and a big squeeze of lime juice.Chicken Taco Seasoning Recipe