Sun Kissed Picnic

The cooler outdoor temperature tells me it's time to add an extra thermos selection to our picnics.  This one is simply a vegetable soup to accompany a cold seasoned chicken baked yesterday, a delicious peach parfait and a homemade braided bread.  Our menu:

Sun Kissed Roasted Chicken

Vegetable Soup

Peach Parfait with Mascarpone

Grated Parmegiano Cheese

Challah Bread

The homemade Challah Bread made with an egg rich dough rises very nice and can be formed into any size loaves.  The braiding is easy.  Just allow about 3 hours of prep time.

   

The Peach Parfait is not hard.  The addition of a little dark rum in the peaches combined with the maple flavored cheese and graham cracker crumbs is indescribably delicious.  I transport the peaches, mascarpone sauce and crumbs in 3 separate containers and plate at table side. 

After my trip to the Farmers Market yesterday, I put all the older vegetables I needed to use first on the top shelf, then chopped up those for the soup.  I did not a recipe.  I sauteed all the chopped vegetables, added 1 can of no salt added diced tomatoes, 2 cups of low sodium vegetable broth and fresh herbs cut from my deck pots.  

I cut the backbone from the chicken, seasoned it and roasted flat in a Dutch oven about 1 hour before I adding a wine and tomato paste sauce.  The chicken was so tender, it fell right off the bone.  The recipe was inspired by Fine Cooking Magazine.   

Roasted Chicken Seasoning

(For 1 whole chicken)

1 tablespoon honey.

Skin chicken.  I removed the backbone.  Brush chicken with honey.

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Fresh ground sea salt

Fresh ground pepper

Zest from 1 lemon

Mix all seasoning ingredients in a large bowl, then press raw chicken into seasoning before roasting.

 Our picnic today was at Casselman Maryland State Park in Grantsville.  The bridge was on the original national highway, now a foot bridge with the newer Rt. 40 just beside it.  My Dad and Mom used to drag race over it in the early 50s.