Maple-Glazed Roasted Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients for Chicken
1 whole chicken
Seasoning blend [may or may not use all of it]: 6 tbsp kosher salt, 6 tbsp ground black pepper, 2 tbsp Herbes de Provence, 1 tbsp ground rosemary, 1 tbsp granulated lemon, 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup barbecue sauce (I used Williams-Sonoma Honey Chipotle barbecue sauce)
1 tbsp honey
½ tbsp kosher salt
Ingredients for Mashed Sweet Potatoes
3 large sweet potatoes, diced into medium chunks
1 ½ tbsp chili powder
¼ cup raw honey
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cinnamon
½ cup +/- heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions for Chicken
Preheat your oven to 430 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven has preheated to the correct temperature, heat a cast iron pan for 25 minutes.
To prepare your chicken, dry the skin with paper towels – a dried surface ensures that the skin will become crispy in the oven.
Generously rub olive oil all over the bird and season liberally, the inside and outside.
If you are using aromatics, stuff them inside of the bird along with the seasoning and tie the legs together with wet kitchen twine.
NOTE: Soaking the kitchen twine in water a few minutes before using ensures that it will not burn in the oven.
Once the cast iron is preheated, quickly place the bird into the pan and return to the oven for about 50 minutes or until the breast meat registers 150 degrees Fahrenheit internally.
Once the breast meat registers 150 degrees internally, turn your oven to broil.
Generously glaze the chicken and broil for 1 minute.
Apply one more coating of glaze and broil until skin is caramelized.
Allow chicken to rest until breast meat comes to temperature (165 degrees Fahrenheit).
Directions for Maple Glaze
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and adjust to your preferred taste.
Directions for Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain them and return them to the pot.
Add in the seasonings. Mash the potatoes.
Adjust to your taste before adding the heavy cream.
I made this after rescuing a stray cat who got hit by a car. I got home from the emergency vet at like 9pm, tired and hungry, and already has shrimp defrosting so here we are. This recipe is for a single person’s serving. Want to make it for another person? Just double everything.
I was a walking zombie so I didn’t waste time chopping actual garlic or vegetables to add but I’m sure if you took the extra 3 minutes to prep some veggies to add, they’d be good to add with the shrimp and soften up at the same time.
This recipe could be way less calories (as it is below, it’s ~650) if you used less heavy cream, as that’s pretty calorie-dense. For one person’s serving, you could probably halve it or cut it by 1/3 if you’re not a particularly saucy person OR use half-and-half as a substitute for less calories. I know myself and I live for and cherish my heavy, creamy sauces so I made the choice I made.
