The Mid-Century "Russian Dressing" Apricot Chicken
Friday Night Comfort
If you grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest in the seventies, this is what Friday night smelled like. The mid-century Jewish-American grandmother was a master of old-world slow-cooking, but she was also a pragmatic pioneer of the American supermarket. There is no elevated, from-scratch version of this dish that tastes better than the original alchemy of bottled dressing, sticky jam, and MSG from a soup packet. Don't fight the processed magic; just line your pan with foil, baste it like you mean it, and ladle the deeply savory lacquer over a mountain of buttered egg noodles.
Ingredients
- bone-in skin-on chicken pieces3 1/2 lb
- apricot preserves1 cup
- red Russian or Catalina dressing1 cup
- dry onion soup mix1 oz
- yellow onion1/2 med
Method
- 01
Preheat the oven and prepare your baking dish.
Heat the oven to 375°F and line a 9x13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent the bubbling sugars from permanently bonding to your pan.
- 02
Arrange the chicken and onions.
Scatter the sliced onions across the bottom of the pan, then lay the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin-side up, making sure not to crowd them.
- 03
Mix the glaze.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the apricot preserves, dressing, and dry onion soup mix until a thick, uniform paste forms and the dehydrated onions are evenly distributed.
- 04
Coat the chicken completely.
Pour the glaze over the chicken, using the back of a spoon to ensure every piece of exposed skin is thickly painted with the sticky sauce.
- 05
Bake and baste relentlessly.
Place the dish uncovered in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, pulling it out every 15 to 20 minutes to scoop the pooling sauce and rendered fat from the bottom of the dish and baste it back over the chicken.
- 06
Broil to finish.
If the chicken is cooked through but the skin isn't deeply dark and sticky, blast it under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes, watching it like a hawk so the sugar doesn't burn.
- 07
Rest and serve.
Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes so the sauce thickens slightly, then serve hot with extra pan sauce spooned over the meat.
Notes
Do not use creamy dressing.
You need the deeply red, oil-and-vinegar-based dressing like Wishbone or Catalina, not the creamy mayonnaise-based pale orange spread used on a Reuben sandwich.
Trust the soup mix for seasoning.
The dry onion soup mix is packed with sodium and umami. You do not need to add any salt to the raw chicken.
Keep the skin on.
Boneless, skinless breasts will dry out and fail to render the necessary schmaltz required to balance the intense sweetness of the sauce.