A Fall Meal with a Hint of Summer

The cool breeze that’s started to roll through Raleigh lately has made me crave fall comfort food.  So, I jumped the gun a bit a cooked up a hearty roasted chicken dinner.  I used onions, garlic and an earthy blend of mushrooms to bring in the fall flavors but I kept a pop of summer (because it is hard to let go!) and topped the entire dish with a light basil cream sauce.  This entrée will be the star of a robust meal that fits perfectly on the cusps of two seasons. 

What you need:

Skin On, Bone In Chicken Breasts

Exotic Mushrooms (shitake, oyster, whatever is around the grocery that day)

Onion - Sliced 

Garlic

Fresh Basil

Milk (Heavy cream would work best but its ok if you just use milk)

Place a roasting pan in the oven at 450 for about 10-15 minutes to get it nice and hot!  While your pan is heating, season chicken with S&P, Oregano, thyme and rosemary – think fall!

Now, carefully, with oven mitt covered hands, remove HOT roasting pan from oven.  Coat the bottom with EVOO and place chicken breasts skin side down – listening to them sizzle.    This will get the skin nice and crispy. 

Place chicken in the oven and reduce temperature to 375.  Bake chicken for about 10 minutes on this side then flip and add sliced onions, mushrooms, minced garlic along with a drizzle of evoo to the roasting dish.  Continue roasting until chicken is done, maybe another 10-15 minutes. 

To make the basil cream sauce (SO EASY!) place torn basil leaves, rough chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, evoo and milk/cream into a ninja or food processor and blend together well.  Use your judgment on measurements depending on how many people you are serving.  Place creamy, basil soup in a sauce pan and simmer until warm.  Once the sauce starts to warm, I add a handful of grated parmesan cheese and a dash of nutmeg.  If you want a thicker sauce, blend a bit or corn starch with water and add until you reach our desired consistency.\

After 30 minutes your chicken and sauce should be ready.  I recommend serving with mashed sweet potatoes or sweet potato cakes and a green veggie (my go-to is asparagus).  The sweetness of the potato, the earthiness of the chicken covered lightly with the basil cream all intertwine to create a meal for two seasons.  Enjoy!!