Chicken, Greens and Fries !

Since the wife had to work today, and I had the day off, I figured I'd make dinner. I had nothing planned so a quick trip to the deep freeze was in order. HMMMMM, so many decisions! Lamb, goat, venison, wild turkey, pork, wild caught fish, guinea fowl, beef, or chicken? I only had a few hours til the boss got home so chicken drew the short straw. I had to speed thaw the four leg quarters in warm water, before a liberal seasoning and a quick sear in a hot cast iron pan that already had grape seed oil, garlic and rosemary in it.

After removing the chicken from the pan I deglazed it with chicken stock. The chicken went into a baking dish with some celery (just for taste), some rosemary and the liquid from the deglazed skillet. Popped into the oven at 350 for about 90 min. While the chicken is cooking, I move on to the "sweet taters".

I cut a few large sweet potatoes into "fries" as a side dish. I didn't want to fry them although I DID want that crunch that frying imparts. The "culinary scientist" in me had the bright idea of putting the fries in a bag with a cup of corn starch, shaking to coat, then placing them in a colander and shaking even more to rid them of any excess. After removing the chicken from the oven I bumped the temperature up to 450. I then began placing all the fries one by one on a wire rack. I walked out into my back yard, fries in one hand and a spray can of olive oil in the other. A liberal coat of olive oil will give the same effect as frying without all the calories! Once the oven is HOT, I place the fries in and let them cook on the wire rack so heat could surround each fry without getting soggy.

The boss had requested sauteed  kale, so I quickly stemmed, and roughly chopped the entire head while my garlic and butter was warming in the stainless saute pan. Once chopped, all of the greens pile into the pan for a quick wilting. In a relatively dry saute pan a few tablespoons of the chicken's cooking liquid will add the steam needed to finish the job and add the flavor necessary to tie the dish together.

The fries will get some black spots, but that is fine! The natural sugars in the sweet potatoes caramelize and add a great sweetness! Just try and be patient and don't remove them from the oven too early.

Now just pile everything on the plate and dig in!