My Spanish Taste: Roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and mushrooms

This year's Catalan autumn is rich in mushrooms. I've heard that this year there are about 180 kg of mushrooms for every hectare of forest - a record from almost 20 years ago:). This is why I'm not surprised that they are all around, in every greengrocery and market, and also in my kitchen:). I eat them several times a week; sauteed in olive oil or butter with a hint of garlic and parsley, or I simply add them to meat and seafood meals or to soups. The second star of this year's autumn season in my kitchen is a sweet potato, which I add to the traditional lentil soup (instead of pumpkin), and which enrich the taste of other casseroles, stews or desserts. I have to admit that this year I haven't tried yet the roasted chestnuts - sold in Barcelona by street vendors - (probably because of very warm autumn), nor have I made any dish with chestnuts.... I'm going to get down to it very soon. Meanwhile, today I have for you a delicious roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and mushrooms:).

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 kg of chicken cut into pieces or chicken drumsticks

1 large sweet potato

150 g mushrooms

100 bacon

2 garlic cloves

1 shallot

1 tablespoon honey

olive oil

salt and pepper

a few leaves of fresh or dried sage

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground pepper, and put them into casserole dish. Sprinkle with olive oil, add the sage leaves and crushed garlic cloves (unpeeled). Bake for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the shallot finely and then fry for 2-3 minutes on hot 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the mushrooms, cut into pieces or into slices and saute for a few minutes. Cut the bacon into pieces and add to the mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into cubes.

After 30 minutes of baking the chicken, add the mushrooms with bacon and the sweet potato cubes. Bake for about 15 minutes, then smear the chicken pieces with honey and grill for another 10 minutes or until the chicken turns golden brown.