Autumn: Root Vegetables and Love!

Oh Autumn, I love you! I love the crunchy leaves falling in the yard. I love wearing a hoodie to walk the dog. And I love snuggling in with cozy dinners as the sun sets way too early. Root vegetables fit right in! Tonight we roasted a juicy Bell & Evans chicken over CSA onions, potatoes, and carrots.

You'll notice the makeshift roasting pan (a baking pan and a rack), which was a last minute attempt (successful) to save dinner. Unfortunately, the delightful gorgeous roasting pan we purchased this summer (below) doesn't actually fit into our slightly-smaller-than-standard ovens.

Preparation was pretty straightforward. Ina Garten offers a lovely recipe that I modified slightly to include a couple of pounds of our CSA potatoes. Inside the chicken resides a whole lemon, half a head of garlic, a big bunch of thyme and salt and pepper. I brushed the skin with butter and added salt and pepper for flavor and the result was one of the tastiest chickens I've ever roasted!

A co-worker and her husband were kind enough to sample the dinner, along with a big bowl of CSA greens, and a basic starter of tomato jam, goat cheese and prosciutto. L created the perfect pre-dinner bite!

We finished up with bowls of homemade bittersweet chocolate ice cream - again slightly adapted by replacing four ounces of bittersweet chocolate with unsweetened chocolate and replacing the milk with soy milk (because our cow's milk was off). DELICIOUS!



Bittersweet chocolate ice cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (preferably 72 percent cacao), roughly chopped
1 tablespoon rye, bourbon or rum.

1. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer cream, milk, sugar and salt, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.
2. In bowl of a food processor, pulse chocolate until finely chopped. Add one cup hot cream mixture and process until smooth.
3. Transfer to a large bowl. Slowly pour in remaining hot cream mixture and the rye, whisking constantly. Place bowl in refrigerator or set in an ice bath to chill.
4. When cold, pour into bowl of an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer to a container and freeze until solid, at least 2 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, or in refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.

Yield: About a quart.