Roast Chicken with Ginger Beet Cream

Even if you do not love beets, you may very well love this sauce. Caramelized onion and ginger pair with red beets to create a very tasty accent. It goes very nicely with roast chicken and serves as a lovely foundation of flavour. This sauce can also be made into a wonderful soup by simply making a 4 times batch.

Ingredients

1 medium beet
1 tablespoon butter
½ of a yellow onion (sliced)
2 tablespoons ginger (sliced)
1/4 - 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 small butternut squash (peeled and cubed)
1 whole chicken
Sea salt, fresh ground pepper and Paprika

Directions

Cut the top and bottom off of the beet. Cover with water and simmer until cooked and soft. Drain the water and let the beet cool. Once cool, remove the skin and slice.
While the beet is cooking, preheat a small fry pan on medium heat. Add the butter, onion and ginger to the pan and sauté until the onions and ginger are nicely browned.
Remove from the heat and add the cream.
Add the beets along with the onion/ginger mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until very smooth. Adjust the consistency with a little extra cream or water if necessary. Add back to the pot from the beets or the pan from the onions and set aside until ready to serve.
Brush a little oil onto your chicken and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and paprika. Roast your chicken whole or cut the chicken in half from neck to tail all the way through. I prefer roasting 2 half chickens as opposed to roasting the bird whole since cooking time seems to be reduced a little.
While all that is happening, preheat a large fry pan on medium heat. Add the butter and the squash. Sauté until the squash is softened and nicely browned. Season with salt, pepper and ground cumin.
Now you are ready to serve this up family style or you can also plate it up as I have in the picture for a nice presentation.

PREP 30 mins
COOK 90 mins