
(This is a repost from 2013. This chicken is a perfect fall dish and I felt it deserved new photos. Enjoy!)
Yom Kippur has ended and officially my new year has begun. Actually, this is a new year until January 1, when if this new year isn't going so right, I get a second chance at another new year. It's good being Jewish! You get to make resolutions twice, in case the first set didn't take! I hope I've been written down in the book of life, and I sincerely hope I haven't offended anyone this past year, and if so I apologize. Yes, once a year it is good to ask for forgiveness, as sometimes you just don't know who you might have rubbed the wrong way. In truth, I should have asked this about 20 days go, but I've been really slow in looking at dates lately. Forgive me. Time just passes too fast.
But this Yom Kippur, I finally got my act together and cooked some traditional food. This week there are some really great leftovers in my fridge and hopefully some you will find interesting. This chicken with figs, red wine and pumpkin is perfect for fall. And a very wet fall it has been; uncommonly wet here in Denver.
Our weather has been so strange. It is not uncommon to have snow in September. This year though, no snow. Just rain. So much rain, I thought we'd have to build an ark. Luckily, we are fine, but many others aren't. Stories keep flooding out (no pun intended) from the news and there are lots of people needing help. In the past, we have had numerous floods in our basement, mainly because we have big trees and their roots have collapsed our drain. Yes, we need to fix it, but unfortunately it isn't in the budget. But let me tell you, our floods, though a pain in the rear, are nothing like what many in our area are going through. I'm not sure how the news has covered it elsewhere, but there will be a lot of people needing a lot of help and there is nothing worse than dealing with water and mold and mud and sewage. Be thankful for what you have. I'm not sure anyone saw this coming.
So like I said, our weather has felt like fall. Of course today we are finally back to normal, and it feels like the middle of summer. I guess that is good because maybe it will help dry things out around here. But back to chicken... Friday night, erev Yom Kippur, I cooked this chicken. I liked it and our small group did too. Full of herby fall flavors, hearty and rich with the taste of a honey, wine and pumpkin sauce and fruity with figs, this chicken is a crowd pleaser and so simple to make. Filling enough to hold us for our 25 hour fast - or maybe that was the potato kugel and dessert that did that. And yes, for those that are wondering it was the famous Omi's potato kugel, and yes, I will post it tomorrow. Just wanted you to lick your chops, because this is a kugel like no other, and it doesn't contain eggs.
But we are talking chicken here. I found this recipe in a new cookbook that came out this year called, The Modern Menu. It is billed as a kosher cookbook but could easily be found in anyone's kitchen. Containing figs, red wine, pumpkins, honey, and cinnamon this chicken is perfect for the Jewish holidays or even a special weeknight dinner. Now you must know my manservant is a lover of figs.
I don't think I ate a fig until I met him. Some people have apple trees in their backyard; well, he had a fig tree. I'm still not so sure about figs. Seedy little devils they are, but full of luscious flavor and after all they are very biblical. Perfect for a traditional meal. Don't worry about the cinnamon or the honey making this too sweet. This is not a dish that is sweet; though this is a good dish to symbolize a sweet year. Everything seems to peacefully meld together, creating a luscious and hearty chicken that is sure to please.
Pumpkin, on the other hand, is found in the New World.
But crazily, it works well with figs. If you think about it, pumpkin by itself, doesn't have a lot of flavor, but it seems to take on the flavor of what it is cooked with. Therefore it makes a great base for a drool worthy sauce. I'll be making this dish again. It was savory and hearty and perfect for a fall dinner. Yes, this chicken with figs, pumpkin and red wine is amazing and amazingly simple to throw together.
Now if you are looking for a good, one dish, chicken dinner you have found it. I have others on this blog, but this one will get Fall off on the right foot. We could use it. Along with a good weather forecast. Maybe one that calls for peace and some dry weather. Happy New Year!
Other great fall dishes:
Pumpkin Brown Sugar Muffins

Chicken Scarpariello

Microwave Caramel Corn

Brown Sugar Spice Cake with Caramel Glaze
More Fig Dishes:
My Mother In Law always made fig jam. Check out this cardamom fig jam from The View from Great Island. And who doesn't like fig newtons? These from Saving Room for Dessert must be delicious.
Please Share Pin the Chicken!
Recipe

Chicken with Figs, Pumpkin and Red Wine or Yes, it's Fall
- Prep Time: 25 Minutes
- Cook Time: 60 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 Servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
12 pieces skinless bone in chicken, white or dark (I used 4 boneless, skinless breasts that were big and cut them into two pieces and 4 chicken thighs with skin - I guess I'm not good at reading directions) seasoned with salt and pepper
2 peeled onions
2 cloves of garlic
Leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme (I used ½ t of dried thyme)
Needles from 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 T olive oil
1 15 oz can plain pumpkin puree
1 c red wine
¼ c honey
1 ½ c water
1 c dried Mission figs or 2 c fresh figs, stemmed (Substitute dried prunes or apricots if you prefer)
2 cracked cinnamon sticks (I buy these in the Mexican section of my grocery)
1 t ground allspice
Slivered almonds for garnish
Instructions
Combine onions, garlic,thyme and rosemary in the bowl of a food processor and pulse once or twice. YOU DO NOT WANT MUSH!
Heat oil in skillet or Dutch oven on medium high heat. Add the onion mixture and saute until soft and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Push onion to side and add seasoned chicken in batches. Brown for several minutes on each side.
Meanwhile, whisk pumpkin puree, wine, honey figs, cinnamon, allspice and 1 ½ c water. Pour over the chicken to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook until the chicken looks plump and is cooked through. This should take no longer than an hour and if you are using white meat, probably only 45 minutes. If there is too much sauce, take the chicken out and place on a plate covered with foil. Leave the lid off and let sauce cook down for a few minutes.
Discard the cinnamon sticks. Place chicken on a platter. Spoon sauce over. Sprinkle
toasted almonds on top.
sue | the view from great island says
I've been mulling over a chicken with figs recipe all week, this will be my test run!
Healthy World Cuisine says
All the flavors of fall in one delicious bite! Delicious new clicks too. It has been difficult to find fresh figs this year but if we can get our hands on some we will be certain to try this recipe first. Pinned!
Juliana says
What a lovely combination, the sweetness of the fig in this chicken dish with pumpkin...and yes, perfect to welcome fall!. Thanks for this awesome recipe Abbe...have a great week ahead!
Susan says
Looks like a delicious dish, Abbe! It's so hard to find good fresh figs here so glad to see you can use dried figs 🙂
NancyC says
This does sound like a great fall dish. Fall sure has come around quickly this year!
2 Sisters Recipes says
We love figs and chicken and this sounds delicious. Thanks for another great recipe Abbe!
sippitysup says
Neighborhood figs are the best part of this almost fall season in LA and this is a beautiful reason to head out the door and steal a few more. GREG
John / Kitchen Riffs says
Good to see this one return! Great dish. And we'll be having loads of rain this weekend, so perfect weather for this. 🙂
Tricia says
We are having super dry, hot, hot, hot weather. No fall temperatures yet! When I lived in Colorado I remember snow in September and May - miss that wonderful climate. Love figs and combined with chicken must be a match made in heaven. Wonderful recipe Abbe! Happy weekend 🙂 PINNING and sharing!
Mimi says
Oh my. I love these ingredients. Time to do some fall cooking, even though our weather is still all about summer. It’s been rainy here as well, but then it gets steamy because of the high temps, so that’s not fun. Oh well, i should be used to this! I can’t get fresh figs here, but I can get dried ones. They might have to substitute?
Liz says
LOL, loved reading my comment from 2013! Not sure I could get Bill to eat the figs or pumpkin, but he'd definitely eat the chicken 🙂
Beerhat says
WOW! This is really an amazing and attractive post about of Chicken with Figs, Pumpkin and Red Wine . I appreciate your posted wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing such an interesting post.
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) says
Man this looks delicious. And yay for Fall foods and figs included. I've been seeing them everywhere. I tried adding some to salmon last night .... didn't work well. 🙂 We've been glued to the television. Even though we've had sunshine for a few days, the stories still unfold. So sobering.
Abbe Odenwalder says
It was a great dish, Lea Ann. Thanks for writing. Boy, it is sure good to have sunshine!
Liz Berg says
Oh, boy did it rain when we were in Denver. At least the worst of it wasn't near my sister, but we saw plows moving debris and road closures on the way to the airport.
I love the idea of having two new years...not that I make resolutions, but I like the asking for forgiveness aspect of the Jewish new year. We should all adapt that. And your chicken sounds darn tasty, too.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Liz, you aren't supposed to come in the rain! Glad you were OK though. Hope it went well. I can't say I'm so good at resolutions, but I sure think about them a lot! And you are right about the forgiveness thing. Something we should all work harder at. Thanks, Liz!
Biz says
I don't think I could sneak in the pumpkin without my hubs knowing!
I tried the Sandwich King's mortadella fig grilled cheese - you make a paste of the figs and it is amazing! (note to self, make this again - soon!)
http://mybizzykitchen.com/2011/08/27/weekly-wi-and-mortadella-and-fig-focaccianini/
Abbe Odenwalder says
Biz, I really don't think he's know as long as he didn't see the can! And that fig paste sounds yummy. My manservant would be in heaven! We don't have Sandwich king, but now i want one!
Laura Dembowski says
I hope you are doing well with all the rain. I keep hearing about it on the news and just hope it gets better for everyone there.
I recently discovered my love of figs. They are an acquired taste, but I find them quite yummy.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Figs are an acquired taste. In fact, I don't think it is the taste as much as the texture! The rains are clearing and people are starting to clean up. It's going to take awhile. Thanks!
shannon weber says
abbe, this is stunning; what a pitch-perfect combination of early fall things. easily this will show up on my table at some point this fall. just beautiful.
those illustrations are so pretty! love that first fig one.
Abbe Odenwalder says
I love those illustrations, too. I use a lot of vintage images when I design and make my plates. I think you will like this Shannon. It was a great mix of flavors and truly a superb fall dish!
Sharon says
Beautiful ❤ I love the combination and it looks so appetizing. Happy New Year, Abbe. I don't know where I am with my resolutions..lol... but I'm optimistic.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Thanks Sharon! Optimism is good and I could always use more! Enjoy this dish. Not the prettiest, but full of great flavors!
Purabi Naha | Cosmopolitan Currymania says
Happy New year, Abbe! I have tried chicken with honey and it surely tastes delish! Never tried adding figs in my chicken recipes. Your dish looks great and just by looking at this chicken dish, I am feeling so so hungry! Saved the recipe.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Purabi, I think you will really like it. Lots of good spices that will make you happy. Let me know what you think!
Angie Schneider says
We have LOTS of rain here too...I love the combo of figs and pumpkins in this chicken dish..looks irresistible, Abbe.
Abbe Odenwalder says
The rain gets to me after awhile, Angie. Does it you? This was a really good dish for the rain-blues!
Cindy says
Abbe, happy new year. I still read every word of every one of your blogs and it makes me so happy. You are just amazing and I love you! cindy
Abbe Odenwalder says
Well cousin, Happy New Year to you, too! And it is nice to make someone happy. I love you, too! Maybe this year on your NM trip you can do a detour for a few days?
Mary Callan says
This chicken dish looks amazing!!
Mary x
Abbe Odenwalder says
It's a keeper, Mary. thanks!
Kitchen Riffs says
Boy, we could use some of your rain. It's been so dry here, although we may get a drizzle tonight. Anyway, splendid dish! I don't use figs much, and I don't know why - they have terrific flavor. And I've never had figs with pumpkin (although I've had them with squash, which probably is close enough). Sounds like this has tons of flavor! Good stuff. Stay dry.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Trust me, you don't want this kind of rain. I believe some of those places got their annual rainfall in just a few days. This is a good dish and I don't use figs much either. Next time I might try this with another fruit but the figs did taste really good and the dish overall was superb!