Chicken with Beets and Sweets

Monday 14 November

Having eaten the breasts of our roast chicken on Saturday, we had the thighs and drumsticks today, reheated and served with a new take on Beets and Sweets.

The beets had been baked in the oven while the pumpkin casserole was roasting, as usual.  The sweet potato was just peeled, sliced into batons, tossed in oil and salt, and roasted in a 425º oven for about a half hour.  Then we cut the beets into similar batons, tossed the two together, and dressed them in the Moroccan fashion that Daniel and Junko taught us.

Savory and sweet, can't be beet.

Chilean Pumpkin Casserole

Sunday 13 November

In our usual fashion, we bought a sincere pie pumpkin from a Findlay Market farmer, and it served as a table centerpiece and cat amuser up until Halloween.

Yesterday, we cut it open and roasted it in the chickeny oven, in preparation for today's meal, adapted from the butternut squash version of Mollie Katzen's original Moosewood cookbook. 

Chilean Pumpkin Casserole

1 small pumpkin

1 cup chopped onion

2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 -2 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 -2 dashes cayenne pepper

1 cup red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 cup green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups grated coljack cheese

Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds, and bake cut sides up (why let all the liquid out?) at 425° for 45- 50 minutes until soft.  Lower heat to 350°, and let pumpkin cool.  Scrape pulp out of the shell, and mash up.

Meanwhile, sauté onion, garlic and spices in olive oil until onion is translucent.  Add peppers and salt, stir, cover and leave on low heat 5 min.  Mix beaten eggs into mashed squash, stir into pepper mixture, add cheese, and stir until incorporated.  Bake in 350° oven for about 20 mins. covered and 20 more uncovered. 

This was hearty and warming, making a fine main dish, though it would also be an okay side for a potluck.  What's more, it made enough for two meals.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Shallots

Saturday 12 November

We bought a nice plump Amish chicken from Charles Bare meats at Findlay Market (they have the freshest and cleanest fryers at the most reasonable price that we've found), and just roasted it according to our current practice, with halved shallots and sliced Yukon golds in the pan to soak up the fat.

Leftover Chili and Muffins

Friday 11 November

This was a numerically significant Veterans' Day, 11/11/11.  We spent it rather quietly, as it was a day off, and just had leftovers from Monday's dinner.

Linguiça Sausage, Onions and Peppers

Thursday 10 November

We are now making Linguiça sausages our standard purchase at Kroger &; Sons, as our previously-favored Napas have unfortunately gone downhill in quality and consistency.  Also, unlike the Napas, linguiças don't actually contain any bell pepper, so they contrast nicely with peppers fried on the side. 

Once again there were eye-watering red poblanos from Findlay Market, cut with some onions, green bell peppers from Sharon's garden, and red bell peppers.  In dreary fall weather, you need something to warm you up from the inside.

Leftover Meatloaf and Arugula

Wednesday 9 November

Almost any meatloaf qualifies as a good leftover, because you can either have it hot with some sort of gravy, or cold in a meatloaf sandwich (ideally with ketchup, onions, and pickles).  And remember, this was Saturday's Best Meatloaf Ever.  We decided to go hot, but we still wanted the ketchupy goodness, so we made a warm topping of caramelized onions, ketchup, paprika, and a dash of Worcestershire.  This went on top of the nuked meatloaf slices, and just for greenery's sake, we tossed up a salad of arugula, tomatoes, and sweet balsamic dressing.

Sorta Basque Chicken

Tuesday 8 November

We had two meaty chicken thighs left over from Friday, a little Serrano ham from Sunday, a passel of peppers (both red and green bell, plus some red poblanos), and some late garden bag-ripened cherry tomatoes.  All of it went into this Basque-inspired but completely inauthentic dish. 

We carefully removed and reserved the chicken skin, and shredded up the meat.  First we sizzled the pieces of skin in some olive oil in a skillet, to get them a mite crispy (the grievins effect); and for some anti-kosher anathema, then added the torn-up ham to crisp up too.  Removed them, and in the same pan sautéed a sliced onion, then some minced garlic, then the sliced peppers, first green, then poblanos, then red, with a careful touch of sweet pimenton, since the poblanos seemed spicy enough.  A little drench of white wine and the chicken shreds went in, and when everything was warm and happy, it was heaped on plates and topped with the crispy bits of chicken skin and ham.

As expected, the poblanos made this hothothot, so we wept as we ate, but we smiled as we wept.