The Great Pumpkin

Tonight we had the pleasure of having our friend Lindsay over for dinner. Lindsay makes things easy because she generally just wants me to make roasted root vegetables and stuffing. While I didn't have the ingredients necessary for the latter I was more than prepared for the former.



I decided to go classic with the salad. I used up some of the lettuce, arugula, and mache in the fridge along with some goat cheese, chopped pecans, and dried cranberries. Not breaking any new ground but it was still pretty delicious. Too bad the Coach Farms low-fat goat cheese costs more than our monthly rent.



For a second course I made a risotto with the carrots and turnips from the farm, a little pinot griggio, some ricotta cheese, Parmesan, and the turkey stock from Canadian Thanksgiving. I also seasoned it with a touch of cardamom, sage, cinnamon, and cayenne.



For the main course: roasted root vegetables with baked chicken breast and roasted potatoes. The root vegetables consisted of celeriac, turnips, carrots, and leeks all from the farm. Also, I chopped up the forgotten parsnips from Canadian Thanksgiving for good measure. Jen had made a pear chutney yesterday and we accompanied our chicken breast with it.

I'm not a big fan of baking a chicken breast. In my book you can only bake cookies, muffins, and cakes. Meats are never to be baked. Technically I guess the chicken was roasted but I think if one you refer to it as baked you can try and pretend that it was healthier than it actually was.



After dinner Jen carved the pumpkin with Lindsay while we all enjoyed It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Well, we all watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I may be the only one that enjoyed it. Lindsay may have enjoyed it. Jen did not enjoy it because she has no love for the depressing antics of the Peanuts gang.



For dessert we had apple slices with whipped cream and caramel sauce. There was also a healthy helping of whipped cream out of frame.



Then Jen and Lindsay finished their political statement-free carved pumpkin. No endorsement for president, just a jack-o-lantern designed to strike fear directly into your heart. Your local and organic heart.