Maple-Roasted Chicken with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

Today was a chilly, rainy day. I wondered: "What would be a delicious fall dinner? What would hit the spot on a cold, damp day?"

This is it. The combination of apples and sweet potatoes, with a kiss of maple syrup and cream, is a great complement to the chicken.

While this recipe takes a while to roast, the preparation work is quite easy. Plus, every thing you need for dinner cooks at the same time. This is a great every day meal when you have a little extra time to cook, about an hour.

Serves 4

2 Golden Delicious apples
2 large or 3 small sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons apple juice
6 tablespoons maple syrup – divided
A few dashes of hot pepper sauce
4 chicken breast halves
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of butter, melted
½ tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons of heavy cream

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Wash and core apples, then cut each apple into eight wedges. Wash the sweet potatoes, and cut into wedges about the same size as the apple wedges.

Place the shallots, apple juice, hot pepper sauce and 4 tablespoons* maple syrup in a baking dish (I used a 9 x 13 inch baking dish). Add the apple and sweet potato wedges. Using your hands, mix well till the apples and sweet potatoes are evenly coated. Roast for 30 minutes.

Cut each chicken breast half lengthwise into 3 strips. Place the chicken on a pie plate. Add the garlic, butter, mustard, the remaining 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, salt and pepper. Turn the chicken to coat each strip evenly.

After the apple and sweet potatoes wedges have roasted for 30 minutes, remove from the oven. Place the chicken strips on top, and return to the oven. Roast for another 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove from the oven. Stir in the cream and serve.

*Helpful hint: 4 tablespoons is the same as ¼ cup.