Local Autumn Dinner: Roasted Lemon-Herb Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries

We have a few staple meals in our household and one of them is definitely chicken. Donny's favorite. I found this great roast chicken recipe here from WFM. Use local chicken breast or leg & thighs. Instead of buying lots of herbs at the store I picked a few handfuls of herbs from my garden, i.e. basil & parsley. The recipe is very easy, but it does call for overnight preparation.

Homemade sweet potato fries are a delicious side to any meal, especially roast chicken. The recipe is simple, but make sure you have enough oil and a frying pan deep enough. (See below for saving oil.) Candy thermometer is also a good idea. Shout out to Junio for this recipe!

1-2 large sweet potatoes is enough for 2 people. First peel the sweet potatoes and cut into thin strips. The thinner they are the quicker they will cook.

In a small prep bowl combine 1 tsp. of each: minced fresh garlic or garlic flakes, pepper & salt, chili powder. Also add in 1 tsp. each of a couple dried herbs. Any combination of parsley, basil, oregano or your favorite is tasty. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Fill your pan half-full with oil (safflower, corn, or canola will all do the trick). Boil oil until it reaches 350 degrees. Gently toss sweet potato strips into pan. Make sure all strips are full covered with oil. Feel free to have your partner test one of the fries. Should cook fully in about 3-5 minutes. Prepare a bowl with a paper towel lining. With tongs or slotted spoon, carefully remove fries from oil and place into lined bowl. Scatter seasoning over fries and toss to your liking.

If you are having a lot of people or only have a small pan, repeat the frying/seasoning process with multiple batches.

Enjoy fries with some homemade ketchup.

**Oil can be reused. Wait until you are finished with dinner to allow the oil to cool. Carefully pour oil into a glass jar with secure lid. Make sure most food bits stay in pan. Keep in refrigerator for multiple uses.**

Local Venice Salt

I live about 1/2 mile from the Pacific Ocean. Donny and I enjoy biking beside it, boogie boarding in it and now we make salt from it. Thats right, I had a successful go at making my own salt. And it is so easy. Here is how to make your own salt.

First you have to get over the fact that you are collecting water from the ocean, since Donny was quite shy about that. He really didn't want anyone to see us doing it. It was Labor Day so the beach was pretty crowded in Venice. Oh well! We took 2 empty plastic bottles that could hold about 3 liters of water total. We quickly filled them with water and biked back home.

Then we filtered the water through some cheesecloth and emptied into a stainless pot. Donny folded the cheese cloth a few times to make it harder for the sand to get through. We actually put a rubber band around the cheesecloth to attach it directly to the top of the bottle. We then boiled the water uncovered for over 2 hours.

Once there was little water in the pot I lowered the temperature so it was hot enough for the water to evaporate, but not so hot the water would pop out. All of a sudden you could see the bottom of the water crystalized into the salt. I stirred it around a bit to dry it all out. I just spooned it out and will put it in a little glass jar. Local sea salt. For free. Brilliant.