Biscuit Day #560 or What a Difference Sleep Makes

And one of my VERY FAVORITE easy chicken dinners

Mar 03, 2024

Oh man I feel soooo much better today (and yesterday for that matter). I think I sometimes don’t acknowledge to myself how anxious I am about things like scans so those adrenalin crashes that can come after getting results sometimes surprise me. This weeks’ results were a big relief, the first scans since Pluvicto. We’ve still got some other immediate issues to deal with. The drugs have destroyed his teeth. We’ve been seeing people about it but it’s complicated. Next week we see another oral surgeon and see what he says. This coming week will be busy, we are traveling to see a friend and then we will be at the Rose Bowl on Thursday to see My Politic, a duo who had contacted me over the years about a house concert but it just never worked out. Kaston Guffey goes down as one of the most charming email correspondents ever though, so I am looking forward to meeting him in person. Come out if you can!

Americana Happy Hour featuring My Politic
Thu Mar 7th 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Oh, and a fine biscuit was had this morning.

I haven’t posted a recipe in a bit but I think this one is definitely worth sharing. When we are very, very tired or just worn down, one of our basic comfort food meals is this recipe. So on Friday night when we were so utterly exhausted I hopefully said, “Do we have chicken thighs?,” followed even more hopefully, “And sweet potatoes too?” Ahhhh.

Sumac Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato and Kale

Chicken thighs, bone in, skin on, 2-3 pounds

Sweet potatoes, skin on, cut into one inch pieces, 1-2 depending on size

Sumac, ground, about 1 tablespoon

Kale, washed and chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pat chicken thighs dry. Place in roasting pan, skin side up. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sumac to taste. You can be quite generous with the sumac as it has a somewhat gentle, but slightly lemony, profile.

Tuck as many sweet potato chunks as you can between all the pieces of chicken. You can drizzle the tiniest bit of olive oil on them, then add salt pepper. I suppose if you were more organized you could toss them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper first. We all have our strengths but organization is not necessarily one of mine.

Roast in a 475 degree oven for about 45 minutes. The chicken should be deeply browned and crisp and the sweet potatoes soft and dark in spots.

Take a few handfuls of chopped kale and tuck it in with the sweet potatoes. Put it back in the oven for about 5-7 minutes.

Don’t worry if the sweet potatoes are quite dark in spots, it’s the sugars in them caramelizing which makes them delicious. Same with the kale, although Ernie likes it done less than I do. You need the slight bitter edge of the kale, almost charred, to counteract the sweetness of the sweet potatoes, all offset by the light lemony tender crispy chicken.

The whole dinner, in one pan, and pretty much hands off…and deeply comforting. Sound good? Let me know if you try it.

The packages of chicken thighs we get usually have five thighs in a package, which is the perfect size for a roasting pan. You want it all packed pretty full. If you’re cooking for two, as we are these days, that means we usually have 2-3 thighs leftover and a bit of the potatoes and kale. This works nicely for a pot pie or, as we did last night, on top of spring greens along with avocade and a few smoked almonds for a salad.