It Tastes Like Chicken

       On Friday, I decided to start my vegetable-eating quest with sweet potatoes. This was, I admit, a bit of a cheat since I already like sweet potatoes – a lot. The problem is that I tend to eat them only at Thanksgiving. I thought it was time to change that.

       I was pleased to find a Rick Bayless recipe that promised bold flavors -- Chile-Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon and Orange.

       For those who aren't familiar with him, Rick Bayless is known for taking traditional Mexican flavors and methods and showing that they can be haute cuisine. He is host of the PBS series, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, and owns two Chicago restaurants – Topolobampo (one of America’s first fine dining Mexican restaurants) and Frontera Grill (which specializes in contemporary Mexican cuisine). Tom and I visit at least one of these restaurants on every trip to Chicago, and we’re not the only ones. Barack and Michelle Obama were reported to have been frequent visitors to both restaurants, and recently Bayless was considered to be a contender for the position of White House executive chef.
       I have tried Rick Bayless recipes before, and know there are no short cuts. A cook has to be in the mood for cooking. And, luckily, I was. We were expecting bad weather Friday night, and I decided to make a roast chicken with the sweet potatoes – comfort food to guide us through the storm. Also, Tom had had a rough week, and I wanted our home to smell absolutely mouth-watering when he walked through the door.
       I dutifully followed the instructions -- pan-roasting garlic, toasting and then re-hydrating ancho chiles, and blending with other ingredients. I added orange rind, orange juice and honey, as directed. And I cleaned and cut the sweet potatoes.
       At this point, I had already spent about an hour on the potatoes, and had used three bowls, two cutting boards, one frying pan and my blender, as well as an array of spatulas, spoons and knives. I couldn't bear the thought of messing up anything else, and decided to skip the step where the chile mixture is pushed through a sieve.
       This was not the kind of attention I was used to paying to mere vegetables.  Tom would be home shortly. And I hadn't even started on the chicken yet.  
       And then it struck me that the richly-colored chile blend I had made for the potatoes would probably be delicious on the chicken!

       Suddenly, all the effort I had made seemed like it might actually be worthwhile.
       No, I didn’t use all of the blend for the chicken. Rather, I poured around 3/4 of it over the sweet potatoes, but set the rest aside. I added some room temperature butter to this final 1/4 of the blend, and to change the flavor profile slightly, added additional dried herbs and some unsweetened cocoa powder. I quickly rubbed this mixture under the skin of the chicken breast and all over the outside of the bird, and put it in the oven at 425 degrees.
        About 20 minutes later, I added the pan of sweet potatoes to the oven -- cooking both dishes together for the last hour. 

        The rain started soon after, but our home was toasty-warm and filled with wonderful scents by the time Tom got home.

        More importantly, both the chicken and the sweet potatoes were absolutely delicious. They were both richly-colored too, and to add still more color, I also served some bright green lamb’s lettuce (mache) with a light olive oil dressing.
       The dinner is something I would gladly make again. I got two great dishes from one recipe.
       And to make things even better, there was enough leftovers of both chicken and sweet potatoes to serve for a yummy lunch Saturday.

       My first experiment was a success!