Roasted Chicken and Root Veggies

OK so not all the veggies I used were local, but with proper storage they at least could have been. The chicken was within my 250 mile definition of local, which for many things is much more realistic despite living in a rural agriculturally-based county.

(note to self: figure out best way to set up something in the basement to properly store root veggies over the winter)

I roasted the chicken according to a method proposed in Cooks Illustrated: After prepping it (my choice: simply rub with extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper - next time, rub under the skin as well), roast it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes WING SIDE UP, then flip it to the other side for 30 minutes, then finally put it the normal way (breast side up) until done, though at that point you add a cup of chicken broth to the bottom of the roasting pan. Oh man did it work well - the skin was wonderfully crisp all over.

During the final roasting, I prepped the veggies: purple potatoes,


turnips (you can see the carrots in the bowl)


(except one of the turnips was mostly ick),


carrots, and onions, all cut into 1" chunks or 2" thin lengths, toss in some olive oil with salt and pepper. Then when the chicken is done (and yes, there was supposed to be a picture here but I got distracted by house guests and didn't snap one), pour the broth into a separating cup, scrape anything left off the bottom of the roasting pan, and put it back into the oven and crank the heat up to 500. When it hits 500, put the veggies into the roasting pan and cook until done (recipe said 25 minutes, 40 was more realistic) without stirring. Then take the pan out, put the broiler on, stir the veggies, pour 1/2c of the broth over and stir again, broil for 5 minutes, stir, broil 5 minutes again.

Everything was delicious. And Partner even ate the turnips. It was actually quite funny: After having declared, "Oh I HATE turnips!" I simply responded, "well then just pick them out." I served dinner, Partner looked wary at first of the purple potatoes but didn't hesitate at shoveling in big white chunks of turnip. I asked after we both had seconds, "so you did like the turnips after all."

Partner looked at me like I'd just said "honey, I put arsenic in the sauce." Denied eating turnips. Demanded to see one when I said that I'd seen at least 4-5 bites shoveled down. Warily ate another bite. And declared, "well, I definitely like YOUR turnips."

Score!

That was almost as good as the time our eldest granddaughter shoveled down 5 tacos before I told her it was ground turkey, since she'd previous insisted that she wouldn't eat it, or the time I got a friend who always declared that avocados were the Most Disgusting Things Ever to try a bite of my guacamole without letting her see what she was tasting. She loved it and thought it was the best dip I'd ever made.

*snicker*

I have pictures that I'll add to this later, but right now I'm just too damn lazy to go get the camera.