Baby Fresh

* Baby Fingerling Sweet Potatoes braised in orange blossom honey, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh

thyme sprigs, sliced onions, white wine, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

*Chargrilled Baby Yellow Squash bathed in fresh lemon pepper butter with fresh parsley.

*Grilled Seasoned Chicken Breasts with pan sauce.

Last night's meal was utterly delicious.  I stumbled upon baby fingerling sweet potatoes at the farmers market yesterday.  I was intrigued by their long, slender, and gangly appearance.  They barely fit the basket that encased them.  I had to have them.  The next vendor had baby yellow squash.  They were so dainty, tiny, and precious;  and in need of a home.  I bought six.  They weighed nothing.  25 cents for all six. 

Braised.  Grilled.  Dinner.

The sweet potato fingerlings were butter soft with a slight brittle snap from tender skin. They tasted so fresh and new. Each bite relished. The orange juice and white wine had enough subtle acidity to keep the flavor bright while the orange blossom honey candied them in a very delicate way.  I didn't even know we had orange blossom honey.  It was perfect.  During the hour long braise, the sliced onions collapsed into marmalade. The fresh thyme sprigs melted into the transparent glaze which allowed  the leaves to fall from their stems, cling to the potatoes, and mix with the  orange juice honey to create a voluptious sauce.  It was something.

I left enough bite to the baby yellow squash to retain a bursting mouthfeel.  Michael held each sliced baby squash on his fork tong in wonder of the tiny sweet tender seeds and pale green flesh.  The intentional char from the grill grounded the lemon pepper butter with smokiness and depth.

An unexpected fantastic accidental sauce was created  when all the juices from the orange, white wine, honey, chicken jus, olive oil, lemon, pepper, thyme, and parsley swirled into each other and puddled on the plate for a toasted bread sopper.

The vegetables were insanely good. We could not stop eating them with gutteral yelps and moans of approval. They felt and tasted like Thanksgiving side dishes in a reinvented way. Very light.  Very fresh. New. 

Yeah, there  was also grilled chicken.  Pretty great tender moist  chicken. It wasn't about the chicken, though.  At. All.

It was totally about the other stuff.