Apricot Chicken and (Homemade!) Challah

Every year we host Rosh Hashanah dinner and this year I'M in charge. It's been tradition that my mom has made apricot chicken and it has always been a crowd pleaser. I decided to stick with this dish and do a test run (even though Rosh Hashanah's is 2 months away). After doing a recipe sweep and going through and cleaning out all the recipes we have acquired over the years, I still could not find my mom's Rosh Hashanah apricot chicken so I had to improvise and pull from other sources.

The winner, which I decided to go with, is from Cooking Light:

- 1/2 cup apricot preserves (I used a sugar-free-with-fiber one which definitely forfeited some of the sweet flavor. I would either go with 1/2 and 1/2 next time or just use regular sugary preserves)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp bottled minced garlic
- 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- (3) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Heat grill to medium-high heat. Add chicken. Cook 2 min, turn. Brush exposed side with sauce and cook 2 min. Turn and brush, cooking 2 min. Turn and brush a fine time cooking 2 min. (Total of 8 min or 3 turns). Juices should run clear and chicken should no longer be pink inside.

On the side-Grilled Green Beans:
As usual, I wanted to do everything on the grill, but how does one grill greenbeans? I decided to be innovative and make individual steam pouches. I took 4 squares of tin foil and placed a serving of greenbeans in the middle of each one. I then shaped the tin foil into a pouch leaving the top open. I drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper and then sealed the pouches shut leaving a tiny opening for steam to escape. These were placed on the grill over medium heat for around 20 min.

Homemade Challah:


















Every year, we look forward to Rosh Hashanah dinner for my Aunt Rosalie's homemade challah (especially the cinnamon-sugar one with raisins!). I have her recipe on file and decided to give it a go--maybe I'll make my own challah this year for Rosh Hashanah?! Now, I'm not going to give you the recipe since it's a family recipe and we've got to keep some things sacred, but I will tell you, challah making is an all day event with a lot of pounding and kneading and waiting and repeating. Being the science nerd that I am, it's neat watching the yeast in action. The challah turned out perfect and delicious. A nice golden brown exterior and a warm, dense interior.