On the 3rd Night of Chanukah I Put in my Belly: Auntie Linda’s Apricot Chicken

7 comments family, holidays, kiddo, recipe night, Uncategorized

Dec 22

now that we’ve got our sides covered (roasted carrots and homemade applesauce), it’s time to add a protein.  my holiday protein of choice is always my auntie linda’s apricot chicken.  it’s completely delicious and moist, kid friendly and has lot’s of ingredients that i often already have in my pantry – it’s a win all around.

AUNTIE LINDA’S APRICOT CHICKEN: serves between 6-8

ingredients:

  • 2 packages chicken parts of your  choosing – i usually do a mix of thighs (my new favorite chicken part) and breasts, but really it’s up to you
  • 1/3 cup dried apricots
  • 1/3 cup currants
  • 1/4 brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup apple juice
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 1/3 cup marmalade (maybe more :) )
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • kosher salt
  • pepper

pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  as always when working with meat (and in my house, chicken = meat), wash your chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel.  if using two different cuts of chicken, i like to cook them in separate roasting pans because the cooking time will vary and i can have more control (i LOVE control).

place meat in roasting pan, skin side up and sprinkle with ginger, salt and pepper.

place marmalade in a small bowl (to limit cross contamination) and spread a thin layer of  marmalade on the top of each piece of chicken.  pour orange juice and apple juice over the chicken so that the chicken is now sitting in juices.

go ahead and bake your chicken for 20 minutes.  when your timer goes off, add currants and apricots and generously sprinkle brown sugar.  it’s also a good idea to baste the chicken now to keep everything nice and juicy.  the chicken goes back in for another 45 minutes but i like to baste again about 20 minutes in, especially if you are working with skinless pieces (the skinless breasts have a tendency to dry out).

okay so i’m the big loser who started to eat and totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product…oops. but you can imagine the carmelized goodness with perfectly browned skin candied fruit on top. sooooo good. i like to save the juices and use it as a gravy. we’ll be eating this for many nights to come. since there’s no food to show off, i thought i’d through in a picture of the wee-one enjoying her holiday meal (she’s finally feeling more like her old self!)


enjoying some left-over salmon, she’ll get chicken tonight!

  • http://backroadjournal.wordpress.com Karen

    Sounds like a delicious meal. I like the idea of two separate pans as the breasts can overcook.

    • http://frecklesinthefog.wordpress.com LBN

      it’s true – and if i did it again, which i will, i’d probably start off my cooking by covering the dish with the breasts in foil and only removing it for the last 20 minutes…just to keep the moisture really in there…thoughts?

  • ruthye

    Samuel is 20 months and I can’t get him to eat half of what EBN does….sigh!

    • http://frecklesinthefog.wordpress.com LBN

      so EBN for sure goes through periods of being BEYOND picky (especially when she was teething…she literally had a day when the only thing she would eat were bananas). but she’s finally getting back to her old self and seems to be enjoying the fish :)

      • ruthye

        Still even than! On those days he only drinks milk! Haha you got a special one in the eating dept!

        BTW-what kind of camera do you use or all these photos. They rock and so creative! Do you use editing software?

        • http://frecklesinthefog.wordpress.com LBN

          i will get back to you – ABN is in charge of all things photo although i’ve really gotten into taking pictures since EBN arrived and actually do most of it these days. i’m thinking of signing up for a one day class the next time i see it come through on groupon or livingsocial. as for editing – if i edit i just use picnick

          • ruthye

            Thanks. I use picnik too. Great site!