Roast Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

This is one of my most loved dinners, and my signature dish. Not only is it delicious but it’s so easy. I have also been told by many people that while they don’t like Sweet Potatoes they like my Sweet Potatoes. If you are using an organic chicken you will need to make an aluminum foil tent or bake in a Dutch oven.

1 whole, raw 6 pound chicken, remove the innards and rinse.
2 or 3 medium sized Sweet Potatoes, scrubbed and wedged
1 large Onion, halved with the grain and sliced finely
Olive Oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Dried Rosemary

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13” by 9” glass baking dish. Create a single layer of the sweet potato wedges in the bottom of the glass dish. Sprinkle half of the sliced onions over the potatoes. Place the whole chicken breast side down directly on top of the potatoes. Place the remaining onions in the crevices and cavity of the chicken. Lightly oil the outside of the chicken, sprinkle the dried rosemary and salt and pepper on the skin of the chicken. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and roast for another 1 hour and forty minutes. Your kitchen will start to smell amazing almost immediately.

*The chicken is done when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit and the juices run clear. Place the cooked chicken on a platter, and with a slotted spoon place the sweet potatoes and onions around the chicken to serve.

Drain the chicken drippings into a 2 cup glass measuring cup and refrigerate. The fat will rise to the top and congeal. You will be able to remove the fat from the top and use later on to cook with. It will give your dishes a delicious flavor and chicken fat is a mono-unsaturated fat-a healthier option to cook with. The fat-free drippings can also be used to give your dishes a rich chicken flavor. Once the meat has been removed from the bones, simmer the bones in 8 cups of water for 4 hours for broth to be used in other recipes. You can freeze all of the by-products listed above for future use.