Flavors of fall

I wish you could enjoy the wafts of roasting chicken creeping into my office from my kitchen...

The sky is gloomy and lugubrious.  The temperature is in the 60's and fall is just starting to arrive in Las Vegas.  I've spent the better part of today sipping coffee and enjoying my open windows.  I think it's fair to say that fall is my favorite season.  I prefer the comfortable weather, comforting foods, and promise of the holidays on the horizon.  

In the spirit of embracing the new season, I've been cooking delectable things this week.  I quickly put away all of my basket produce a few days ago.  I was thinking about what I was going to do with my fabulous new ingredients.  I had planned on whipping up a roasted cauliflower soup, so I went to the store for the additional ingredients.  When I came home and got to work, I realized I had moronically mistaken a head of iceberg lettuce for a head of cauliflower.  Well, crap! Now the basis for my whole meal was nonexistent.  Never fear! I decided to not let this teenie weenie obstacle evade my soup plans.

I chopped up about 5 new potatoes, about 20 baby carrots, and 2 stalks of celery.  I tossed all the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them at 425 until softened and slightly browned; about 1 hour.  In the meantime, I crisped up some bacon bits in a saute pan.

I thinly sliced a shallot, separated the rings, and tossed them in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  I sifted off all of the excess flour, and flash fried the shallots in the remaining bacon fat. 

I took all the roasted veggies out of the oven and blended them up with 1 pint of heavy cream, 1 can of chicken broth, and 3-4 cups of water.  I poured the pureed mixture into a pot and heated through on low heat.  I served the cream of potato, carrot, and celery soup with my crispy garnishes sprinkled on top and a slice of sourdough garlic bread. 

This soup was delectable!  Luckily, I was in the comfort of my own home and could like the inside of my bowl clean.    

You could use this method to make any kind of creamy vegetable soup.  Cauliflower would have been excellent (if I had any).  Other choices include parsnip, asparagus, broccoli, squash, or a combination like I chose.  The carrots really added a nice sweetness to this rendition.  

Today, I decided to roast a whole chicken.  I picked up two chickens for $10 while at the grocery store.  Buying a whole chicken is way more cost effective than buying just breasts, just thighs and so on.  In addition, if you make time on your day off to roast a whole chicken, you can use it throughout the week in a myriad of applications.  

I decided to stuff my chicken.  I diced up sourdough bread, and pears.

  

I took a major shortcut and purchased frozen, diced butternut squash.  

I mixed these three ingredients together with dried thyme, basil, rosemary, 1/2 stick melted butter, and salt and pepper.

I took the giblets out from inside the chicken and boiled them in about 1 cup of water. 

When cooked, about 10 minutes, I minced up the the giblets and added them to my stuffing.  Then, I poured the boiling liquid over the stuffing to moisten.  

I stuffed all this goodness inside the chicken, and placed it in a roasting pan.  I liberally seasoned the chicken with salt and black pepper and squeezed two lemons over the top.  I tucked the lemon halves in the pan and put it in the oven at 400.  

How long? People always ask.  Well, the answer is, "until it is done!"  This chicken took about 2 hours.  I raised the temperature to 425 for the last 30 minutes.  How do you know if it's done? You use a thermometer.  No fancy tricks here.  Stick a probe thermometer into the middle of the chicken; you are looking for 165.  

If it reaches 160, you can pull it out, and it will finish carry over cooking while you make your sauce.  Remove the chicken from the baking dish and pour the juice in the bottom into a small saute pan.  I added about 1/2 cup water, swirled it around and poured that into the pan too.  Whisk together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and a splash of water.  This is called a slurry; and it is one way to thicken a sauce.  Bring the juice to a boil and whisk in the slurry to thicken.  Allow the gravy to boil again while whisking.  

Plate up some chicken and stuffing and squeeze the baked lemon halves over the top.  Serve with gravy drizzled on top.  

"Fall" in love with boring ole' chicken all over again.  This was delightful.  The lemon really brightens up the whole meal.  You can use whatever you like inside your stuffing: apples, cranberries, potatoes, old bread, and more.  

And the best part...now you have loads of cooked, ready to eat chicken to use for the rest of the week.  You can make sandwiches, casseroles, chicken salad, anything your chicken heart desires.  

What are your favorite fall dishes?  Is there something you are looking forward to cooking this season?