It's October now, and although we had a lovely 80 degree Indian summer weekend, it is generally getting cooler. With the cooler days, we are more apt to sitting in a cushy chair with a blanket and a book, than lounging in the hammock with one. It is also the time of year to hunker down and cook good food. Coincidentally, it is also when the farmers markets offer their best - apples, pumpkins, squashes kale, and cider doughnuts.
Our farmer's market here in Duxbury is so bucolic, everything looks so fresh and good! I tend to get overly ambitious and buy too much. I can’t help it- it's like when I wake up in the morning with the best intentions of my day: oatmeal for breakfast, roast kale chips in the oven for a snack, and bread and soup for dinner. (My husband makes fun of my "hearty food" days, but he seriously benefits from it, too.) No one wakes up in the morning and thinks, "Today's the day I'm going to let that cabbage that I bought wilt in the fridge for one more day then finally throw it out. And because it's bad, I am going to stick some frozen pizza in the oven, because, oh well, that's all I have."
If you can’t get to the farmer's market (poor you), this is where you will get, and hopefully, keep inspiration for eating well during the long winter days ahead: food books. Cook books, journals, food history books, reviewer's reminisces-all of the above. When I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, I bought a sprouting jar and I still use it- especially in the cold months when my garden is frozen over. Her story is the year in the life of her family on their small farm in Virginia. They took the full year to live off their own land, and to eat as locally as possible. It's informative, not too preachy, with some good recipes thrown in.
There are so many books like this to choose from- pick what you are interested in, and something that reads like a story. Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma is more of a history of food. Well researched and written, it will have you thinking about why you eat what you eat, and the shape of your teeth and why they are how they are…
Dr. Andrew Weil's Eating Well for Optimum Health is more of a health centric book. He's a health nut who's a little chubby himself, a good indication to me of someone who likes food. It is a guide to good health and way of eating that you will enjoy, not suffer through.
The above books are not just browsing books, but full on reading books. If this kind is not your cup of tea, get a cup of tea, and sit down with a stack of cookbooks to leaf through and gather some new ideas for the well-intentioned kale languishing in your fridge. There are also so many beautiful cookbooks that I couldn't possibly mention them all, so I will name a few. Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter, anything by Ina Garten, and the Silver Palette books are some of my personal favorites. Don’t tell the folks at Westwinds, but what I like to do is get cookbooks from the library, take them home, and try them out. Once I've found one that's a keeper, I return the library book, and buy my own copy. I have done it with every book I've listed above.
It's getting chilly here at the computer, and I have a southern cookbook open on the counter with a chicken in the fridge waiting to be cooked, and to be joined by the sweet potato salad I've already made (because it's cool, but still warm enough for a salad.) After I type these recipes for you, I will go cook that pullet.
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
5 large sweet potatoes
3 c. arugula
6 chopped scallions or 1/2 cooked Vidalia onions
2/3 c. craisins
1/2 c. toasted chopped pecans
Dressing
1/4 c. olive oil
2 tbsp real maple syrup
2 tbsp apple cider
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Peel and cube sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces. Toss with a little olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, turning on the pan every 10 minutes. Whisk dressing ingredients together. Toast pecans. Let the sweet potatoes cool, then toss all ingredients together in a pretty bowl.
Roast Chicken with Cider and Molasses
5-8 lb roasting chicken
1 c. apple cider
1/2 c molasses
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/2 c. chopped mixed fresh herbs- tarragon, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 sweet onions, sliced
12 cloves peeled garlic cloves
1 c. chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste
Place cider in saucepan over medium low heat and reduce to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and add vinegar and molasses. Preheat oven to 450. Sautee onions and garlic with olive oil. Place chicken in roasting pan, stuff cavity with fresh herbs, and spoon onions and garlic in the cavity and around the chicken. Add 1 cup stock to pan. Rub chicken with butter. Roast for 30 mins. Reduce heat to 375. Add cider mixture to the pan and baste chicken. Baste every 20 mins or so. Cook chicken 20 minutes per pound, until internal temperature of thickest part of breast is160 degrees, or until the little thing pops up. Let rest for 10 minutes, covered by foil. Remove chicken from roasting pan, and place the roasting pan on stove top on medium high heat. Let mixture reduce a little, and skim off any fat. Season with pepper and salt, and serve alongside chicken.
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