Plum Crazy

So for the first set of recipes, I'll do pumpkin soup (which can be very easily made with canned pumpkin such that preparation is a snap) and apricot chicken. These are two pretty easy recipes. Trust me on the apricot chicken. I realize that reading the ingredients you may get nauseated, but it tastes great.

Pumpkin soup
3 cups canned pumpkin or 2 lb. cooked fresh pumpkin
3 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste (or, if you prefer slightly sweeter, also add ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste)
3/4 cup light cream (I usually substitute almond milk)

Pour the chicken broth in a large pot. Add the pumpkin.

Knead the flour and butter together and add to the broth/pumpkin mixture. Add the brown sugar and light cream. Add spices to taste. Heat, but do not boil.

Serves 6.

Incidentally, this recipe comes right from The Joy of Cooking, a cookbook I recommend you buy. I left out the 1/2 cup of finely julienned ham that the recipe calls for, and I really love the recipe without it, but you can add it back. Just add it before heating. I used to make this recipe when I used to have dinner parties, and it was always a big smash. And I always used the canned pumpkin. Shhhh.

Apricot chicken
3 lbs of chicken parts (either quarter a 3 lb chicken or just use the store-bought breasts and/or thighs)
3 tbsps apricot preserves
3 tbsps lemon juice
3 tbsps ketchup
3 tbsps mayonnaise
1 envelope onion soup mix

Rinse chicken, remove excess fat, and pat dry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place chicken, skin side up if you're using the chicken with skin (you don't have to, although the sauce does give the skin a wonderful flavor) in a roasting pan.

In 1 1/2 quart saucepan, place the preserves, lemon juice, ketchup, mayonnaise, and onion soup mix and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat immediately and pour over chicken.

Bake for 1 1/4 hours, uncovered.

Serves 4.

That recipe comes from what has to be the best kosher cookbook ever - Spice and Spirit, the Lubavitch kosher cookbook. Even for those of us who don't keep kosher, it has great recipes. I'm sure you can find it online. If not, find a local Judaica store. I love the curried chicken recipe in it. Although that one is quite a bit more difficult, so I didn't post it here.

In terms of a vegetable for easy cooking, you can always do a salad or use canned/frozen whatever you like. I'm partial to Israeli salad, which is diced cucumber and tomato tossed with olive oil and lemon juice. Spice it up with a little chopped parsley.