saturday supper for three!
jack tasted his first meat. yep, saturday night, we enjoyed a slow roasted, local foods supper as a family. it was the first time all three of us were able to enjoy all of the same foods at a meal and it was special...and delicious! our meal was centered around our chicken that was produced by healthy acres farm in sylvania, georgia. i seasoned the chicken with fresh, homegrown basil, rosemary, sage, and thyme and several cloves of garlic for two days prior to roasting it. i took it out of the refrigerator about an hour before i cooked it on saturday, then roasted it at 400 degrees for about an hour. it was divine...
we enjoyed our chicken (jack ate his in the pureed form) with couscous and a roasted mixture of summer squash from natural branch farm in roanoake, alabama and cherry tomatoes grown at several of the participating farms in the moore farms and friends csa. we cut all of the veggies into similar sized pieces and roasted them for about 12 minutes at 425 degrees. before serving, i showered them with fresh basil. again, jack took his in pureed form- the couscous and veggies all blended together.
it's not polite to show your food while eating, but watching jack experience his first meat was all cute, not rude, to us! he really explored the new texture of his food with his tongue and his NEW bottom tooth!
after jack-jack was all tucked into bed, david and i indulged in grilled peach sundaes...a very southern end to a lovely saturday meal. we halved the peaches and grilled them for about 3 minutes on the cut side.
then, we topped them with french vanilla ice cream and homemade bourbon caramel sauce. to make the caramel sauce, melt 1 stick of butter in a medium size pot over high heat. add 2 cups of sugar and stir until dissolved and the mixture begins to boil (this will take several minutes). reduce the heat to a simmer and stir often, cooking until the sugar turns medium brown. then, remove the pot from the heat and add 1/4 cup of bourbon...be VERY careful pouring in the bourbon, it bubbles fiercely ( i had it ALL over my kitchen!). return the pot to the flame and bring it back to a boil. next, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes more. remove from heat and add another 1/4 cup of bourbon, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and 1 tablespoon of salt. stir until smooth. allow the sauce to cool and then store in the refrigerator up to 4 weeks.
it was quite yummy...and a lovely way to spend a summer saturday evening.
i hope you, too, had a delicious weekend with good food and family.