This past week has been a refreshing reminder that yes, we in fact do live in the mountains. With three days of rain and 50 to 60 degree days I think affectionately back to summertime in Seattle, when even though it’s August, you still have to look at the weather report before planning anything outside.
As a few others did, I saw my window of opportunity on Wednesday to do some quick farmers market shopping at the People’s Market. I was not as lucky as some and was stuck under a tent for about an hour as it was a downpour. At least I had filled up my glass with some Roadhouse beer right before the storm hit. When I made it home after the market it felt like it had turned into full on fall so I decided just to go with it for dinner. I had just thawed out a whole chicken from Generation Farms and decided tonight was the night. I had been avoiding turning on my oven for the past 3 months but I was quickly reminded of the complete lack of insulation in my house and the extra warmth was welcome after being sopping wet for the past couple hours.
Whenever roasting a big ole’ chuck of poultry or pork, I always try to plan ahead and brine it overnight. The brining process helps with imparting moisture into the meat and also letting the seasoning penetrate deeper into meat before roasting. I usually do mine quite simply with a quarter cup of salt and eighth cup of sugar per liter of water. You can also opt for a warm brine where you add additional herbs or spices to boiling brine, cool, and then put your meat in to impart different desired flavors as well. After the brining process is done, let them meat dry and rub liberally with melted butter and fresh herbs.
I knew I wanted to roast some vegetables along with the chicken and perused the market to see what looked the best. I settled on some gorgeous carrots from Cosmic Apple and Snap Peas from Grove City Gardens. I blanched the carrots and tossed them of a mixture of honey, thyme, ginger, olive oil, and a touch of sesame oil. As the peas take much less time to cook, I like to wait until about 5 minutes before the carrots are ready to throw them in, using the baking pan of carrots as almost a saute pan.
While the chicken and veggies were amazing, I was well aware that all this fall, roasted chicken, and cold weather talk was really only me justifying cooking stuffing.
My hands down favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal, I find my self getting random cravings for stuffing at points during the year. Although delicious baked in its own in a pan, the cavity of a chicken or turkey is where it is meant to be cooked. One of my favorites, a fennel, apple, and sausage stuffing, incorporates lots of ingredients that you can find at the market this time of year. I went for it buying the onion (Green Thumb), Bread (Larks Meadow), chorizo, and garlic (Generation farms) and Fennel from the market. The celery and apple were my only store bought additions.
Yum….
In the end I got my fix. As I am writing this article the sun is starting to come out and my roast chicken dinner seems so far away, It is back to the land of salad and BBQ’s. At least I know that somewhere, at the back of the fridge, I will have some left over stuffing waiting for me.
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb large dice
- 1/2 large onion large dice
- 3 sticks celery large dice
- 8 cups large dice bread
- 1 large apple large dice
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 pound chorizo
- 1 egg
- 4 oz butter
- 2 tbsp garlic
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp sage
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter and saute chorizo in a large frying pan
- Before chorizo is fully cooked, add in garlic, onion, fennel, and celery
- Saute until translucent and soft.
- Add apple and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
- Set aside mixture,
- Toast diced bread until golden, then add to mixture
- Add chicken stock, egg, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and toss until incorporated
- Stuff chicken with mixture or place in baking pan and cook until slightly crispy
