Roasted Spiced Chicken with Cinnamon and Honey Sweet Potatoes

Confession - I rarely cook meat. I have several excuses as to why:

1) I love vegetables
2) Meat is slimy when raw
3) I don't have a grill pan

My parents remedied excuse #3 by giving me the fabulous Le Creuset grill pan for my birthday. To Bryant's joy I actually began looking through my meat recipes - the ones I couldn't cook without a grill pan. I pulled out this tantalizing recipe (from Bon Appetit, I think) and started making my grocery list. As I read through the ingredients I began to feel sheepish. No grill pan needed - just a baking sheet. My bad. A coffee grinder, however, is necessary to grind the whole spices. I have owned a coffee grinder for the past 4 years, which is random considering I don't drink coffee. Now own a grill pan and a coffee grinder. I'm set for life.

Caution - this is one spicy dish, which is why I love it! They suggest it be served with a mango chutney, which I also recommend, but do yourself a favor and purchase a sweet, not hot, chutney. It also recommends slicing the potatoes (or yams, depending on who you ask) into rounds. I didn't love the texture, so I'm going to change that to a mashed sweet potato.

Chicken

1/2 c chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs allspice berries, ground in a spice mill or coffee grinder
1 Tbs chopped peeled fresh ginger (the odd root thing in the produce section)
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme (this is the one ingredient I forgot to purchase, I used dried thyme and had great results)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 scotch bonnet chile or habanero chile, seeded and minced (I couldn't find either of these chiles fresh, so I ended up using a dried habanero chile. THANKFULLY I still took out the seeds. These babies are hot!)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 whole chicken leg-thigh pieces (I used 2 1/4 lbs of boneless chicken thighs instead)
2 Tbs olive oil

Place onion, garlic, apple cider vinegar, honey, ground allspice, chopped fresh ginger, chopped fresh thyme, salt, ground black pepper, seeded and minced chile, connamon, and nutmeg in processor. Puree until coarse paste forms. Place chicken in a large Ziploc bag and seal. Turn chicken to coat. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange chicken pieces, with marinade still clinging to chicken, on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush chicken with oil. Roast until cooked through, about 45 minutes for thigh-leg pieces, 20 to 30 minutes for thighs.

Sweet Potatoes

2 Tbs butter, melted
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 lbs red-skinned sweet potatoes (scrape the skin with your fingernail to make sure they are deep orange inside)

Wash sweet potatoes and prick with fork. Roast in 400 degree oven until tender (you can do this while the chicken bakes). Remove skins and mash with remaining ingredients. Adjust seasonings to suit your tastes.

Serve the chicken with the sweet potatoes and mango chutney. I also made a batch of wild mushroom couscous to accompany the dish, and it worked perfectly. Serves 4.