Saturday, November 15, 2008

Autumn Colors

I do wish that the colors of these shallots and butternut wedges would survive the roasting! What a glorious fall palette they make before the oven turns them both to a nutty golden brown. Not that I don't like golden brown, you understand, but just look at this riot of purple and orange! Fantastic!

The dish I made with these was delicious but not nearly as pretty as the originals. I added to the stuff in this picture a light glaze of olive oil, a sprinkling of dried thyme, a generous grind of fresh pepper, a glug of apple cider and a handful or two of mixed nuts.

Mixed nuts?


Yes, each time My Beloved goes down to Fres-yes on business, he stops at Pistachio Heaven and picks us up some locally grown nuts. We started this tradition in our early days together when we drove down to Fresno in the heat of the summer to see an exhibit of Russian art treasures in the local museum and were amused by the Burma-Shave style billboards that lured us in. The show was terrific and so were the nuts, despite the 100+ degree heat. We love these valley towns.

In addition to the pistachios, he also brings bags of mixed nuts and, somehow, they seemed just right for the dish. In retrospect, I'd have used salted nuts or added more salt to the pan, but all in all I was pleased with the result. I didn't even peel the butternut - a trick I learned from Jamie Oliver - and there was no need to, roasting turns the skin soft and barely chewy. Roasted in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, everything came together in a sweet-savory side dish for our pork chops.

It was all shades of golden and dark brown; luckily, brown tastes better than orange-and-purple. Pretty is as pretty does when it comes to autumn colors.

Labels: , ,

7 Comments:

Blogger Nancy Ewart said...

What gorgeous colors - I love using those colors in my paintings. Are you sure you aren't really a painter? You've got a painter's eye - and the dish sounds delish!

Saturday, November 15, 2008  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Nancy, I do love color - it's the manipulation of said that buffaloes me. I'll leave the painting to you who knows what you are doing and stick with photography.

Saturday, November 15, 2008  
Blogger Kitt said...

Yum! So pretty.

But right now it feels like summer in the Bay Area! What's up with that?

Saturday, November 15, 2008  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Kitt, September, October and parts of November are our "summeriest" months here, until the rains begin. And sometimes I write posts ahead, as in this case...then the weather changes on me. Go figure!

Saturday, November 15, 2008  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

Dang, it almost looks spring-like, with those purple Easter eggs and the bright orange wedges of, um... OK, metaphor expired.
Have you tried roasting Delicata squash? The skin is even thinner (and less chewy). How cool that we don't have to peel (some) winter squash anymore.

Sunday, November 16, 2008  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

No, wait, I got it. Sliced Peeps!
:D

Sunday, November 16, 2008  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Cookiecrumb, sliced Peeps???

Monday, November 17, 2008  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home