Roast Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For Roast Chicken
- 1 whole 4-pound chicken, giblets reserved for another use
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
- 3 leaves of fresh sage, chopped
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tbsp celtic sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) pastured butter, softened to room temperature
For Sweet Potato Mash
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 4 tbsp pastured butter
- celtic sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees
- Chop garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme. I like to make a pile of the herbs including the garlic and salt & pepper and then chop them with a knife called a Mezzaluna. It takes no time at all to chop herbs with this tool. You can use a standard chef's knife as well.
- Combine the herb mixture thoroughly into softened butter.
- Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry with clean towel or paper towels.
- Rub butter mixture all over chicken skin (I use my hands for this)
- Arrange a rack in upper third of oven
- Place chicken, breast side up, in a 9X12 glass Pyrex dish or in a roasting pan.
- Put chicken in oven and start on potatoes
- Poke wholes with fork around each sweet potato
- Wrap each potato individually. First in parchment paper, then in foil
- Put on a sheet pan and into oven on a rack underneath chicken
- Cook chicken for 20 mins on 500 degrees or until skin is a light golden brown color
- Turn oven down to 400 degrees
- Roast chicken and cook potatoes for an additional 30-35 mins or until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°F. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- While chicken is resting, you can pull sweet potatoes out of oven and either split in half and serve on plates with a pat of butter or scoop out the innards and blend with an immersion blender or hand blender and spoon onto plates
- Now carve the chicken and serve
