Traditional Charoset, by Cheryl

Every year I make the charoset for our family's Passover seder. Over the years I have tweaked it some in order to get the sweet taste I'm looking for in order to combat the bitter herbs that generally go with it. This is delicious with the bitter herbs on the matzah, but also on it's own as a sweet treat (though I only make it for Passover!) Yum! 

Ingredients:

3 Fuji or Gala apples, diced or chopped

Chopped walnuts

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/3 - 1/2 cup? of Manischewitz red wine

Directions:

1) Mix everything together! I like to make it ahead of time so that the wine really gets into the apples. 

Braised Chicken with Rosemary and Wine, by Diane

This is from the latest issue of CL, and it looked delicious! It was from their quick meals edition so it was the perfect weeknight comfort food to enjoy. The only change I made was switching the chicken thighs for breasts because my family doesn't like dark meat. Also the parsley garnish looked nice but I didn't like the taste with the dish so I'll skip that next time. I served it over mashed potatoes in the photo and it was really great!

Ingredients:

4 bone-in chicken drumsticks (about 1 pound), skinned
4 bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 1/4 pounds), skinned
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup Chianti or other rich red wine
1 cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 (14.5-ounce) can unsalted whole tomatoes, crushed and undrained
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Make 1 (1/2-inch-deep) cut in each chicken piece; sprinkle evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

2. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan.

3. Add shallots, garlic, and rosemary to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, chicken stock, sugar, tomatoes, and bay leaf.

4. Bring to a boil; return chicken to pan. Reduce heat to medium; cook, partially covered, 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning once. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.