The star of dinner tonight was a roasted chicken from Polyface Farms. I rinsed and dried the chicken and then generously salted and peppered it inside and out. The outside I wrapped in bacon from EcoFriendly Foods and the inside I stuffed with two of the season's first peaches from Westmoreland Berry Farm. Into the oven at 425 for 30 minutes, then I reduced the heat to 350 and roasted it for an additional hour.
The plan was to end up with delicious bacon-wrapped chicken and some roasty peach chunks. My oven had other plans!
Now, I've made bacon wrapped chicken before and it's always turned out, but this time for some reason the bacon shriveled to itty bitty bacon cinders and became inedible. So not only did I have burned bacon, but I had flabby chicken skin. Erg. I removed the peaches from the chicken and noticed they were not roasty at all either. My plans had been foiled, but I thought there had to be some way to salvage this food. After a moment's pondering I set the bacon cinders aside and carved the chicken into two leg quarters, two breasts, and two wings. I put the chicken pieces on a foil lined baking sheet and put them back in the oven to turn the flabby skin crispy. What to do with the peaches...aha! Gravy!
To make the gravy, I took the peaches from the chicken cavity and heated them in a small saucepan with a good spoonful of drippings from the roasting pan and 1/4 cup sweet white wine from Rose Bank Winery along with a pinch of salt and about 1 inch of cinnamon stick. I put the heat to low, covered it, and let it simmer while I went to work on the veggie sides. I don't know if Rose Bank Winery can be considered local to northern Virginia, but we used to live about 3 minutes away from this winery and we bought a whole case of the wine that we're still working on! So it was local to us at one point. :)
To get our leafy greens in for the day I made some braised kale from Pleasant Fields Farm. First I sauteed some baby onions from our CSA in the chicken/bacon drippings, then added the kale and a little water, covered, and let it braise for about 15 minutes.
To add some freshness to the meal, I made a quick cucumber salad using crispy little Persian cucumbers from Toigo Orchards. They are so snappy and delicious! I tossed them with some chopped orange mint from Red Rake Farm, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a splash of rice vinegar. Red Rake Farm is one of my favorite stands at the Arlington Farmer's Market. It's all organic and their produce looks more "real" to me than some of the other places for some reason. And the owner, Peter, is always ready with a smile and story. Much nicer than shopping at a grocery store!
Once the veggies were ready, the chicken skin was crispy and the peaches were nice and broken down for the gravy, and dinner was served! I think everything tied together very nicely - the crispy chicken skin with the sweet warm peach gravy, the tender kale, and the cool fresh cucumbers. My husband even ate the bacon cinders and said they kind of tasted like pork rinds. Success!
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8 comments:
Hi Elizabeth,
Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your blog. Your meals look so healthy and delicious, and they are so inspiring! I just pulled up your avocado pudding recipe to make for my family...my two young children and I are Paleo, local and organic (my husband is another story! :) ). This is a lot of work, but it is surely worth it.
Keep up the good work and thanks for the inspiration!
Sincerely,
Twyla
Lest readers of my dear wife's blog think I am some bacon cinder-eating barbarian, I thought I would clarify that the bacon was, in fact, slightly overcooked and darker than one would expect to be edible. But they were, much to my surprise, quite edible. So much so that I ate the whole darn bunch!
But I assure you, dear readers, that the bacon cinders were more bacon than cinder, despite appearances.
Funny the bacon burned. Mine did too. And I ate it, which makes me a cinder-eating barbarian, too. But not totally - mine was crunchy and edible, too!
Elizabeth, Your meal looks so yummy! Persian cucumbers are my favorite too. They are so dainty and crispy.
Great idea to salvage your dinner! :) I'm planning on doing a bacon wrapped chicken within the next few weeks.
Wow, this looks awesome despite having to cob it together. When you're good, you're good. I've got to try it sometime.
Twyla: Thanks so much! Comments like yours are what helps motivate me to keep on blogging. :)
To my husband: Better you be the bacon cinder eating barbarian than I. ;)
Anne: Maybe we should start a burned bacon support group!
Yummy Gatherer: Yes, those cucumbers are the best!
Meggilizz: Thanks! Hope your bacon turns out better than mine did. :)
Robin: Thanks!
NoVA peaches are already coming in?? I will have to keep a sign out for the orchard signs. I wasn't expecting those until well into July, what with the cold spring we had.
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