Charlotte's Chicken

Charlotte Chaffin

Food Editor's Note: The glaze on this chicken is based on a bottled rib sauce, but gussied up with orange juice, sherry, and other good things. I made this for a Shabbat dinner with a large family group, and every bit was eaten. Relatives all agreed that it met ShalomBoston.com's high standards for entry into our recipe file. Enjoy as a sweet entrée on Rosh Hashanah or year-round.

Ingredients

2 cut up chickens (about 3 pounds each)
1 jar sweet chicken and rib sauce (approximately 11 ounces)
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 stick melted margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken pieces close together in a baking pan, skin side up. Bake for 45 minutes.

Mix all other ingredients together and pour over the chicken pieces, covering thoroughly. Bake another 45 minutes, basting occasionally. The sauce will thicken and form a glaze. If the chicken needs more browning, remove the pieces to another pan and broil for a few minutes, watching carefully. Scrape the sauce from the first pan into a bowl to serve as "extra" or pour over the chicken when done cooking. (The sauce will burn if it cooks too much or at too high a temperature.)

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Charlotte Chaffin grew up in Chelsea and lives in Needham. Julie and her family report that she is a great cook.