There is something about fresh, local, organic, seasonal brussel sprouts. I look forward to them each year.

For this dish, I put 1 pound of brussel sprouts in a baking dish with a sliced apple and a diced yellow onion. I tossed it in approximately 1 TB of heavy whipping cream, 1 TB of local honey from New Moon Farms, and a pinch of Red Algae Hawaiian Kai Sea Salt.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so, until the brussel sprouts are tender. I served this with Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken. Great meal!

After roasting my chicken, I had a lot of pan juices, so I poured a cup or so into a sauce pan on medium low heat.

To that I added approximately a tablespoon of cornstarch that had been dissolved in 1/4 cup water.

Mix well and let thicken for a few minutes.

That’s it: Gravy.

I don’t do much with chicken. I’m not a huge fan and often prefer turkey. But, it had been almost a year since I roasted a chicken and on a cool autumn afternoon it seemed like the right thing to do.

Here’s what I made:

I got a whole frying chicken at Whole Foods. I gave it a nice rinse, patted it dry, and put it on an upright roasting rack. I covered it in a marinade of:

• 2 TB Honey Mustard
• 2 TB Worcestershire
• 1 TB olive oil
• 2 TB local honey from New Moon Farms (Best.Honey.Ever.)
• 1/2 tsp Smoked Spanish Paprika from Savory Spice Shop
• Fresh ground black pepper
• a pinch of Red Algae Hawaiian Kai Sea Salt (also from SSS)

Then I stuffed the chicken with 3 carrots and 2 red onions, and laid some potatoes and turnips on the tray.

Next went 2 cups of water into the bottom of the roasting pan and the bird went into an oven that had been preheated to 350. I roasted for approximately 1.5 hours. It is done when the thigh reaches 180. You also want to see the juices run clear from the bird when you poke it’s thigh with the thermometer.

I had no choice but to make gravy with the pan drippings. Literally- I had no choice. The man of the house was not even going to consider a roasted chicken and potato dinner without gravy.

I served this with some Apple-Baked Brussel Sprouts.

Roasting a whole chicken is a great thing to do from time to time because after serving the breast meat on day 1, it’s resourceful to pick the bird clean and then make homemade broth with the bones. It is so much better than store bought broth, and you get to control what goes in.

Get cooking!