apricot chicken

      This is one of the things I make for our Wednesday night suppers at the church. It is a real crowd-pleaser, but it began as a humble feeds four recipe. I've been making this for at least 30 years at home. The decadent sauce is a little sweet, a little tangy and a whole lot yummy! You can easily do this for your Fam... they'll think you slaved for hours!

     I usually serve this any type of plain, unsauced rice, steamed fresh seasonal veggies and whole wheat dinner rolls. All of the side items can be made while your chicken is roasting... and yes, its that simple. I realize a family of four doesn't need two entire chickens, but I like leftovers and this dish freezes well.
     This can even be prepared the night before, then stored (raw, in the sauce) in an airtight container in the fridge. Take it out the next day, pop chicken, sauce and all, into an enamel roasting pan or glass baking dish, cover and shove into the oven and voila! Dinner is ready in an hour.

Ingredients

2 cut-up chickens
1 bottle Catalina or zesty french dressing
1 pkg powdered onion soup mix
1 jar apricot jelly
1 onion, chopped
1 can apricot halves, sliced

Directions
Rinse cut up chicken. Set aside to dry a little. Place birds in large enameled roaster or something similar with a lid. Sprinkle onion and apricot slices over and around chicken in roaster. Combine dressing, soup mix and jelly in a bowl. Pour over chicken. (Can be refrigerated overnight at this point.)
Cover and roast for about an hour a half at 350 degrees F. Remove lid and allow to brown for about ten minutes. Internal temp of thickest piece should be 165 degrees F. Take out of oven and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.