Baked Chicken with Herb-Roasted Potatoes

Back in the day, this was my mom's favorite quick chicken recipe. It was comfort food for cool Minnesota nights, warming her kitchen, filling the whole house with the enticing aroma of roasted chicken and potatoes – and in just a couple of hours, filling our bellies too.

The recipe couldn't be simpler. Just brush chicken with sour cream and toss potatoes with mustard, herbs and a little olive oil. Then bake them side by side. Tonights's Supper? Really, it's that easy.

Recipe updated & republished 2015 to remember my mom on what would have been her 85th birthday ...

COMPLIMENTS!
"... it was delicious." ~ Jessie

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Your best recipes – where do you find them?

My own bookshelves hold dozens of cookbooks. The basement houses who-knows-how-many back issues of cooking magazines. An invaluable food website is Epicurious, where every-day home cooks critique recipes from Gourmet, Bon Appetit and other food magazines. The Food Network is entertaining and reliable for tips for new tools and techniques. NPR broadcasts the radio program The Splendid Table on Saturday afternoons: I often plan an hour’s kitchen time then, to listen.

But in the end, our standby recipes, the ones we make again and again, often originate with family and friends. They are time-tested dishes that feed grown-ups and kids alike day in and day out, mostly simple to prepare and served without fuss.

Back in 2002, four generations and three nationalities of family from my mom’s side collected hundreds of favorite recipes for a family cookbook. Here, I’ve combined two recipes from our cookbook, a baked chicken recipe of my mother’s and a roasted-potato recipe from my cousin Diane. Together or separate, these recipes are so easy, so good. What do you think, is this Tonight’s Supper?

ALANNA's TIPS Leg quarters are meaty and often inexpensive. Still, use any chicken parts, even a whole chicken cut into pieces. (My recipe for Grilled Balsamic Chicken includes a video showing how a butcher cuts ups up a whole chicken.) I usually buy one package of thighs and another of drumsticks but breasts work well too. The chicken looks better and stays slightly moister when baked with the skin on. That said, chicken skin really adds to the calorie count so mostly I take it off, especially for breasts and thighs.I do leave it on for the drumsticks, it's just harder to take off. To avoid cross-contamination, once a spoon or knife has touched the uncooked chicken, don’t return it to the sour cream container. Especially for a quick meal for a small group, it's handy to combine a couple of pieces of chicken and potatoes side-by-side on the same sheet pan. When stirring the potatoes, stir in the chicken juices too.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. In 2009, Kitchen Parade celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special collection of my mother's recipes. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook!

TONIGHT’S SUPPER?
RECIPE for BAKED CHICKEN with
HERB-ROASTED POTATOES

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Serves one to many!

BAKED CHICKEN
• Chicken pieces, skins on or off (see TIPS)
• Sour cream (low-fat is great, non-fat is not)
• Salt & pepper

HERB-ROASTED POTATOES
(enough to serve 4)
• 2 - 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning or another herb of choice
• 1 pound medium-size red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes, skins on
• Generous salt & pepper

TO SERVE
• Lemon wedges, for squeezing over potatoes, optional
• Fresh herbs, for garnish, optional

Set oven to 425F/220C. Line one or two sheet pans with foil for easy clean-up.

CHICKEN Without crowding, spread chicken pieces on a sheet pan. Brush chicken pieces evenly but lightly with sour cream, using about a half tablespoon for a leg or thigh, for example. Season generously with salt and pepper.

POTATOES Mix mustard, oil, garlic and herbs in a bowl. Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces, stir into mustard mixture, really stirring deeply to distribute the mixture well, covering all sides of each potato piece. Arrange potatoes on a shallow pan lie a sheet pan in a single layer. Season generously with salt and pepper.

BAKE AT HIGH TEMP FOR 30 MINUTES Place chicken and potatoes into oven on one or two oven racks. (If using two sheet trays, put chicken on the upper rack.) Bake for 30 minutes.

BAKE AT LOWER TEMP FOR 1 HOUR Reduce heat to 300F/150C. Taste a potato piece, adjust the seasoning, then stir the potatoes well. If using two sheet trays, place the chicken on the lower rack. Bake for another hour.

TO SERVE Transfer to a platter. Squeeze lemon wedges over the potatoes and sprinkle fresh herbs over top.

MAKE-AHEAD When we're going to have a houseful for the weekend, I often bake two trays of chicken and potatoes ahead of time. It reheats beautifully, either by the plate in the microwave or covered with foil in the oven at 300F/150C for about 30 minutes.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Chicken Only Per Serving, assumes three ounces cooked meat: 146 Calories; 5g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 0g Carb; 0g Fiber; 100mg Sodium; 96mg Cholesterol; 22g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS WW Old Points 3 & WW PointsPlus 3
Potatoes Only Per Serving: 101 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 15g Carb; 3g Fiber; 99mg Sodium; 0mg Cholesterol; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS WW Old Points 2 & WW PointsPlus 3

Adapted from two recipes from my family's cookbook

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More Easy Baked Chicken Recipes

(hover for a description, click a photo for a recipe)

~ more chicken recipes ~
~ more Quick Supper recipes ~

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More Potato Recipes

~ Mashed Potatoes & Carrots ~
~ Smashed Potatoes & Broccoli ~
~ Lighter Mashed "Potatoes" ~
~ more potato recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

~ How to Roast Potatoes to Perfection ~
~ Slooow-Baked Potatoes ~
~ "Best Ever" New Potatoes & Green Beans ~
~ more potato recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture, my food blog

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ chicken ~
~ sour cream ~
~ potatoes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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