In-Season Recipes

Recipes & Photos by Sarah Heffron

We're enjoying cooking excellent fall foods and looking forward to the real change of seasons in the next few weeks. Here are a few warm and cozy recipes to usher in autumn!

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Chicken with Honey Thyme Glaze

Salting the chicken in advance helps with moisture retention and browning. This is delicious!

Yield: 4-6 servings

1 whole chicken, cut in eighths

Kosher salt

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2 sprigs thyme

2 ½ tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

A dash of hot sauce like Tabasco

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chicken stock.

Generously salt the chicken and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

Heat cider vinegar and thyme in a small saucepan. When almost boiling, turn off heat and steep for half an hour.

Strain and combine flavored vinegar with honey, mustard, salt and hot sauce.

Adjust seasoning.

An hour before baking, set chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with glaze.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake chicken until golden brown and cooked inside to 165 degrees, interrupting baking several times to rebrush with the glaze.

Remove chicken to platter and deglaze baking pan with 1 cup water.

While the chicken bakes, reduce the stock by a third. Add pan drippings and reduce a bit more.

Strain and adjust seasoning.

LOCAL INGREDIENTS: chicken, honey, thyme, chicken stock.

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Peanut Sauce

Peanut sauce is delicious on summer rolls or cold noodle salads with lots of summer or fall garden vegetables. This is the kind of recipe you want to have up your sleeve — a literal crowd-pleaser and something you can do with minimal effort and the ingredients you have on hand.

Yield: 3 cups

1 cup smooth natural peanut butter

1 heaping tablespoon minced ginger

1 minced garlic clove

1 1/2 cups water

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup raw honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth,

LOCAL INGREDIENTS: garlic, honey

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Cream Cheese Frosting

We recently made a funfetti cake, and the bride asked for cream cheese frosting. One of our servers, an accomplished baker herself, said, "You make the best cream cheese frosting!" It's so easy to make you can put this on every carrot cake, apple cinnamon cake or pumpkin cake you make. It is too easy and really great and has stood the test of time. Most importantly, it is not overly sweet.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 ounces butter, softened

8 ounces powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine cream cheese and butter. This must be thoroughly softened to combine nicely. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and salt.