Autumn Sunday Supper

Having grown up in Michigan's lower peninsula, fall is a time of great nostalgia for me - a nostalgia almost exclusively centered about food! Fall in the Midwest meant gorgeous colored leaves, a plethora of garden squash, kale, pumpkins, and cabbage, apple picking, cider pressing, and of course, family football games! The scent of cinnamon, apples, crisp leaves in the orchard, roasted root vegetables, and slow cooked Sunday family suppers all conjures up warm, happy memories. Tonight, being Sunday, I have decided to give in to my nostalgia and make my own Sunday supper, even if it is in Georgia and raining for the 9th day in a row! Nothing lifts the spirits like comfy food, a choice vintage, and good company!

Slow Roasted Beef and Autumn Vegetables

1 2-3lb Beef Roast (any lean, choice cut will work)
Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Fresh Thyme and Rosemary (full sprigs)
3 small Onions (quartered)
2 Sweet Potatoes (peeled and cut into large pieces)
5 Carrots (peeled and cut into large pieces)
1 Apple (peeled and chopped)
3 cloves Garlic (peeled and crushed)
2 cups Red Table Wine

Heat oven to 325.

Rub beef with salt and pepper. Place in covered roasting dish, surround with prepared raw vegetables, apple, and garlic. Tuck sprigs of herbs around meat and vegetables. Pour 1 cup of wine over all, season with salt and pepper. Roast covered in the oven for 1.5 hours. Add another cup of wine and baste with jus. Roast another 45 minutes-1 hour, checking to be sure meat is not getting dry. Serves 4-6.

I am planning to serve with a spinach salad topped with toasted pine nuts and dried tart cherries in a fig vinaigrette.

I'll tell you how it tastes!

On Dill Pickles and Their Ilk

Pickles, in case you didn't know, come from cucumbers. Cucumbers that are pickled. Like all food, there are good pickles and bad pickles.

Here are the things you want to look for in a dill pickle:

1. Dillness--sometimes pickle companies try to make them slightly sweet--this is a no go. You have to be adamant about the dill factor. It should taste tangy and refreshing. If it is not refreshing, the pickles are too old.

2. Crispness. Pickles must be crisp--whether they are little, spears, large or sliced, crispness is essential to the Pickle Experience.

Recommended brands:

* Claussen
* Milwaukee's Dill Pickles

 

  

Enjoy! And only eat the best...

Yes, It Was Good

A friend recently noted, "I saw your blog and recipe but nothing about how it tasted."

Would the CR ever put anything up that wasn't good? Excellent? Stupendous?

No.

But said friend did have a point.

So--the chicken with apples and onions was great. Because the ingredients cook at a low temperature for a fair amount of time everything becomes very, very tender. The onions become translucent  basted in the juice from the chicken and the apples; the apples  become milder in taste and tender to the point of falling apart; the chicken gets a carmelized taste from the apples and onions and is so tender it falls off the bone.

 

Over all the dish was aromatic and subtle but also very individual. And French--which is where the CR got the inspiration from.

Chicken Roasted With Apple and Onion

Groceries:

1 Granny Smith Apple
1 large Vidalia onion (or any white onion)
6 pieces of chicken*
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Dish: Oven roasting pan with cover.
Oven: 350 degrees

Directions: 
Remove chicken from package. Rinse and pat dry. Brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place in roasting pan. Cut apple into eighths and core, place around, amongst, and between the chicken. Cut onion into two inch chunks, also arrange around chicken.

Roast at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, basting the chicken with the juices from the bottom. Change oven temperature to 350, roast for 30 minutes, making sure the chicken does not get too dry. return oven to 325 and roast for 15 minutes.

Sides:

Garden Salad with Vinagrette

Roasted Carrots with Lemon

Peel, halve and quarter 6 carrots. Place on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, juice from one lemon and pepper. Place in oven 20 minutes before chicken is finished.
 
Serves: 5.




* You Choose: chicken legs, chicken wings, breasts with bone or any combination of the three

The Cuisine Regime Rules And Cornerstones

1. Enjoy your food.

2. Know your food.

3. Eat slowly.

4. Eat with others.

5. Eat without gadgets--no TV, texting, or emailing.

6. Have a glass of wine with dinner.

7. Enjoy your food.