Add seasonal flavors to spice up your meals as cool weather returns
That chill in the air means it’s time for a different kind of fresh. Let onions, squash, grapes, pears and pumpkins take a seat at your dinner table.
Here are two recipes, Spice Rubbed Chicken and Curry Pumpkin Soup, from the October issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine to get you started.
Nestled beneath the chicken as it cooks, onions are both a roasting rack and a flavorful side dish. A rustic rub of cinnamon, paprika, cumin and coriander gives the chicken bold color. Using canned pumpkin makes the soup quick to prepare. Pumpkin pie spice and a hit of curry give the dish bright, seasonal flavor.
Curry Pumpkin Soup
This recipe can be prepared up until the half-and-half is added, then refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months. To serve, thaw, reheat, and proceed with stirring in the half-and-half and remaining steps.
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
1 medium carrot, chopped ( 1/2 cup)
1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 (15-ounce) cans pumpkin
2 (14-ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup water
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 recipe Orange- Cranberry Topper (below)
Prepare Orange-Cranberry Topper.
In 4-quart Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrot, and celery. Cook, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add curry powder and pumpkin pie spice. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add pumpkin, broth, and water. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
In food processor or blender, add one-third of the pumpkin mixture at a time, cover, and process or blend until smooth. Return all pumpkin mixture to Dutch oven.
Stir half-and-half, salt and pepper into pumpkin mixture; heat through. Sprinkle each serving with Orange-Cranberry Topper.
Yield: 8 servings
Nutrition per serving: 145 calories, 7 grams fat (4 grams saturated, 43 percent fat calories), 4 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrate, 19 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 433 milligrams cholesterol.
Orange Cranberry Topper
In small bowl combine 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel, and 2 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley.
Spice Rubbed Chicken
Roasting chickens are larger than broiler/fryer chickens and tend to be juicier. They’re ideal for whole-roasting and rotisserie cooking.
4 cups thickly sliced or quartered red, white, and/or yellow onions, and/or boiling or ciopollini onions, peeled
1 (5- to 6-pound) whole roasting chicken
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoon olive oil
Chard leaves (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large shallow roasting pan place half the onions in an even layer. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt; set aside. Fold chicken neck skin onto chicken back, secure with small skewer; tie legs to tail with kitchen string. Tie wings close to body or twist wing tips up and tuck under back of the chicken.
In small bowl combine sugar and remaining seasonings. Brush chicken all over with oil. Sprinkle spice mixture and rub in with fingers. Place chicken, breast side up, on onions in pan. If desired, insert meat thermometer into center of inside thigh muscle. (Thermometer should not touch bone.) Loosely cover with foil.
Roast 1 hour. Remove foil. Add remaining onions to pan. Roast, uncovered, 30 minutes; cut strings on legs and wings. Roast 30 to 45 minutes more or until drumsticks move easily in their sockets and chicken is no longer pink (180 degrees in thigh). Cover with foil. Let stand 15 minutes before carving. Serve chicken with roasted onions and chard leaves.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 618 calories, 42 grams fat (11 grams saturated, 61 percent fat calories), 49 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrate, 191 milligrams cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 438 milligrams sodium.