thanksgiving junior

melissa moss is in town! melissa moss is pretty much on par with logan and ginger in terms of our cooking compatibility. we're just on the same page; we agree and we get each other and so many things can just go unspoken. things run smoothly and results are delicious when melissa and i spend a few hours together in the kitchen. it only sweetens the deal that she just got her certificate from le cordon bleu, and i have just started learning proper culinary fundamentals as well. we were flashing terms all over the place!

since sarah had never before had butternut squash soup (WTF), even though she loves butternut squash, and she loves soup, obviously that was the first thing i put on the menu. the buttermilk in my fridge begged to be made into biscuits, collards seemed appropriate for the necessary green-something, and melissa suggested a perfect centerpiece - whole roast chicken.

she brought over a nice bell&evans broiler, a gargantuan bunch of platter-sized collard leaves, and the supplemental squash. she set to work seasoning the bird with lots of butter, sea salt and cracked pepper, and chopped parsley, sage, and rosemary from my herb garden. after sticking half a lemon in the cavity, we lovingly placed our fowl in the oven.

meanwhile, i gathered my paltry harvest of petite squash from the garden and had to supplement it a bit with half of a store-bought squash. peeled, diced and roasted them with olive oil until they were melt-in-your-mouth-tender.

melissa chiffonade-sliced the collards as i set up my big dutch oven to blanch them. we shocked them in an ice bath, then closer to service time, she sauteed the greens with apple cider vinegar, garlic, butter, sea salt and cracked pepper.

we cranked up the heat in the oven as i made the biscuits. the chicken crisped up and came to temp, and we set it aside to rest as the biscuits baked. we suvee au blanc-ed onions for the soup, added the roasted squash, and pureed with veggie stock. i seasoned the soup with salt and pepper, cayenne, curry powder, cinnamon and coconut milk. what says autumn love better than that?

while i carved the bird, melissa whipped up an herbed pan gravy - blonde roux, roasting pan juices, stock, and more fresh herbs. absolute savory heaven.

i have so few excuses to use my silver and fancy stuff, and i was not about to pass this one up. i laid out the carved chicken on my biggest silver platter, piled up the biscuits on a frilly silver oval, poured the gravy into a floral ceramic pitcher, and served the soup in my little green vintage dutch oven with matching trivet. we sat around the candlelit table, pretty china plates on kittycat placemats, melissa and i facing each other at heads of table, grinning at this rare opportunity to revel in our mutual passion, and sunk our teeth into tender flesh, sipped our autumnal conconction, sopped up savory gravy with pillowy biscuit bits, and chomped on earthy, vinegary greens.

thanks must be given for such things, even if it's only the 30th of september.