Fall cooking…Join me…

Yep…That time of year. And while we don’t grow pumpkin and apples down here

I have enough northern roots left to want to cook with Fall.

which means I pretend 

Quintessential fall.

…Enter these two guilty characters

 

These two ought to be outlawed They are that dayum good together.

Regular Bonnie and Clyde of the salad set.

These two, and the fact that a very good friend who runs a 100 year old apple orchard in NY…who every year at this time…sends us a BIG box of straight off the tree apples. LOVE her and her apples!

Heirloom and tart, crisp and sweet

THAT is the fall I remember. Bring it ON!

SO

My cooking juices get going….on windy, salty ocean swept days.

Today we are making a Quinoa salad with apples and cranberries, toasted walnuts and gouda.

I am adding the crunch of crisp fennel….that goes SO well with apples. And peppery arugula

and red onions cooked in balsamic vinegar….Red Apple. Which I so happen to have. See Bonnie above.

I like to toast the quinoa in a dry hot pan after I have rinsed it….helps retain the crunch.

Bought some cider and a whole organic chicken…so am adding them to the party.

Hellooo  smoky warm Gouda.

I make a stuffing with dried whole grain  bread, onions, celery, diced apple …some cider…and lots of fresh sage.

Stuff the hen.

Baste with extra cider….A good friend in NYC taught me this way to cook a bird in the fall….and it is oh so perfect! And smells like fall and covered bridges and picking apples and…..

The salad is truly wonderful and would make  great vegetarian fare at your thanksgiving table…It tastes so much like thanksgiving…..I think Bonnie and Clyde add the perfect touch. You can add some of the roasted chicken to the salad for the next day. It’s THAT good!

It just doesn’t like to take pics as well as it should…

Or…is that me?

Quinoa Salad adapted from this fine recipe.
Chicken….ya gotta wing it.
Bonnie and Clyde found here

I LOVE fall….even though I have to borrow some of it.

You?