Early Fall in the Ozarks

Tomorrow I plan to go out in the boat for some fishing on Table Rock Lake. I will take the camera when I go to take picturesque shots of the hills beginning to change colors. In the mean time, the football gods are busy thrilling and deflating our fan instincts. Texas and Washington both upset winners, while Baylor and LSU are dismantling their opponents.

By the way, some of the ways I know it is Fall  are the change of the front door flag to a pumpkin and the runner on the long table has become a a cornucopia. Have to love the wife's embroidery.

For tonight I have chosen to use the chicken I found at the store on Thursday. I do not know why, but the market had reputable brand fryers frozen and on sale for $.79/pound. At that price I stocked up. Earlier this afternoon I removed the wishbone, backbone, wing tips, and keel bone from the chicken and cut it in half. In a bit it will go in the oven at 375 degrees on a tray with mushroom, onion, potatoes, carrots, and Brussels sprouts. Lets break it down:

Trim one pound of Brussels sprouts, removing any brown leaves. Clean and cut in half 8 to 10 small gold potatoes. Slice a half onion. Add the equivalent of four carrots, cleaned and chunked. Quarter three very large mushrooms or stem eight ounces of button mushrooms. Bag it all and salt and pepper generously and add 3 to 4 Tablespoons of good olive oil. Let that sit for an hour.

Remove the wishbone, backbone, keel bone and wing tips from the chicken. Clean up any excess fat and salt and pepper generously.

Arrange the chicken halves skin side up on a jelly roll pan, salt and pepper, and spray with olive oil. Arrange the mushroom pieces around the chicken to absorb the chicken drippings. Spread the remainder of the vegetables in a single layer on the rest of the tray.
Roast at 375 degrees until chicken skin is crisp and the vegetables are beginning to brown. Note - I stir the vegetables after 20 minutes and the chicken usually hits 140 degrees somewhere around 45 minutes.
If I remember I will add a post of the finished product later.

The finished dish looked like this.