Grilled BBQ Chicken & Pan-Fried Sweet Potato Thick Chips

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while (or are actually my friends in real life and have been here for dinner) know that I am more than a little obsessed with sweet potatoes. Not a week goes by that I don't include them in my dinner, and I am always trying to think up new ways to prepare them.

When I was a kid, my grandma used to occasionally cut potatoes about 1/4" thick and pan-fry them in a little vegetable oil. They'd get nice and brown and crispy around the edges and soft inside, like fries, only flatter. I have attempted to make an oven-baked version of those thin-cut potatoes (and sweet potatoes) and, well, it wasn't pretty. Tasty, but not pretty. I'll spare you those recipes, because they usually ended up being served as mashed potatoes (ha!) anyway.

This barbecue sauce recipe is just a basic idea, of course one can't always measure when throwing in a dash of this and a few shakes of that, but if you use this as a guideline you can adjust however you like and it'll still be barbecue sauce. If you don't like the idea of using ketchup, feel free to use plain tomato sauce and throw in some extra vinegar.

I like my bbq sauce dark and thick and sweet and a little spicy, specifically, I like it to taste like the so-called 'sweet' sauce at a Floridian BBQ chain called Sonny's - deep down we all love what we grew up with, right?

It's worth noting that this meal only cost like $5.ºº to make and we were stuffed.

Grilled BBQ Chicken

BBQ Sauce:

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/4 cup ketchup

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp mustard powder (or prepared mustard)

3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp molasses

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

pinch of allspice

2 chicken breasts with fat removed

Whisk together all ingredients (except the chicken, obviously) in a bowl or jar. Adjust seasonings as desired.

Pour half of the sauce into a medium bowl or wide shallow dish. Cover the chicken in sauce and let marinate for at least 30 minutes. Reserve the other half of the sauce for dipping or pouring later. Be sure not to let it come into contact with any raw chicken.

Heat a cast iron stovetop grill over medium-high heat and lightly oil. Place the chicken on it when a drop of water sprinkled on the grill sizzles like crazy. Flip the chicken with tongs after 8-10 minutes, and cook the other side another 8-10 minutes. Check for doneness before serving.

Pan-Fried Sweet Potato Chips

1 gigantic sweet potato

2-4 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil

1 tsp kosher or table salt

Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them about 1/8"-1/4" thick. (1/8" makes crunchy chips, 1/4" give you soft centers with crispy edges).

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom, not overlapping. When they start to turn dark brown, flip them. Drain on paper towels while you cook the remaining batches, adding a tiny bit of oil if needed. As the last batch finishes, put all of them back in the pan to get hot again. Remove them onto paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt. It always takes more salt than I expect to get sweet potatoes nice and salty.

Fried Chicken, Corn Bread, Macaroni & Cheese, and Sweet Potato Chips

I just got back from nearly a week in Florida. Now, I know Florida isn't the south, but my family is largely North Carolina based and there are a lot of grits and biscuits involved when I go home. Yesterday I made biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast, and this for dinner. When I'm in a food mood, there's no stopping me from taking the theme as far as my grocery store will let me. Don't be surprised if there's pulled pork on this blog soon.

Some people have joked over the years that I should open a restaurant and call it Beige, since most of my favorite foods are shades of brown. Har har har. But there's a salad! I was going to make green beans but I forgot to get them at the grocery store. I also meant to make the sweet potato chips with peanut oil, but discovered too late that I was out of it and had to use vegetable oil, which, sadly, doesn't make for crunchy oven chips. They were really tasty though!

Anyway, I hope you don't mind, but I seem to be on a kick of posting whole meals. I'm leaving off the apple tartlets for now, but there was dessert, too. Of course.


Fried Chicken
1 whole chicken cut into pieces
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup beer
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp adobo
1/2 tsp paprika
2 more cups flour
1 more tsp paprika

Heat 1 1/2" or so of oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat (350º if you have a thermometer). Drip one drop of water in the oil, if it sizzles the oil is ready. Put 2 or 3 pieces of chicken into the batter, then into the flour, then immediately into the oil. Flip them over when the batter is golden, it should take 10-15 minutes to cook thoroughly. Drain on paper towels before serving. I like to put the first batch in the oven to cook more and stay warm while I cook the rest.




Corn Bread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 12.5-oz can creamed corn

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x13 or 9x9 pan (f0r thicker cornbread) or line muffin tins with paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Melt the butter and pour it into the eggs in a steady stream while whisking. Now whisk in the oil, milks, and cream corn, then stir in the dry ingredients until just combined and pour into pan. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake another 10 minutes.


Sweet Potato Chips
4 or 5 skinny sweet potatoes
1/4 cup peanut oil
kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400º.
Slice the sweet potatoes as thinly as you can, use a food processor if you have one. Coat them with peanut oil, spread on a foil-lined cookie sheet (for easy cleanup) and bake until they are browned around the edges, roughly 30 minutes. Sprinkle with kosher salt before serving.




Macaroni & Cheese
1/2 pound (half a box) elbow macaroni
6 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
1 tbsp mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
12 oz shredded cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar & monterey jack)
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the macaroni as directed, but drain when it gets slightly al dente, as you will be cooking it further. Set the pasta aside after draining and toss it with half of the butter to prevent sticking to itself. In the same pot you cooked the pasta in, melt the rest of the butter over medium heat and whisk the flour in, turn down to low and keep whisking for 2-3 minutes. Turn up to medium heat and add the milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Add the seasoning, then whisk in the cheese. Adjust seasoning as needed, then stir in pasta. Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until the pasta is cooked through. Sprinkle with with breadcrumbs if desired.
If you have a casserole dish (I don't! Why!?) you can transfer the macaroni to it just after stirring in the pasta, and bake for 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Cornbread

For the past couple of years, I lived around the corner from a soul food buffet restaurant. I didn't eat there very often (why didn't I? Because I am an idiot!), but when I did I was always sure to get a big ol' hunk of their sweet potato cornbread, because it was unlike any other thing I've ever had. This recipe is nowhere near as good as theirs, but it's still walking distance from my new place and I may just have to go over there and get some and see if I can work out what they did differently. Three times more sweet potatoes, or honey, or some molasses maybe? I wouldn't be surprised. I'll let you know if I figure it out.

Don't get me wrong, this sweet potato cornbread still thrills me. Everyone who had a piece of this batch was pretty pleased with it, one of my friends even vowed to write a poem in its honor. But if you live in Bushwick and know the soul food place on Broadway, it may let you down a little. I, for one, am totally spoiled.

Sweet Potato Corn Bread
3 sweet potatoes
3 tbsp butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of clove
1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Fill a small sauce pot about 3/4 with water and bring to a boil. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks. Add them to the boiling water and cook about 20 minutes, then remove from heat and drain. Add butter, then mash with a potato masher or pulse in a food processor until fluffy. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool to room temperature.
While it's cooling, preheat the oven to 400º. Grease a 9x9" baking pan and set it aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and clove. Mix the buttermilk and eggs into the bowl with the sweet potatoes, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined and a little lumpy. Pour into the pan and bake in the center of the oven about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the edges pull away from the pan a bit.
Let cool mostly before cutting or it will crumble beyond repair.

I recommend serving this with breaded catfish and something dark green and leafy.


If you don't have buttermilk handy (most of us don't) you can add about 1 tsp of lemon juice or white vinegar per cup of milk. Just add the spoiler to the milk and set it aside before you do any other prep work and it'll be nice and curdly when you're ready for it.

Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet potato fries are one of the best simple foods around, if you ask me. That salty crispy exterior that holds in all the sweet melt-in-your-mouth goodness inside. Man, I just had these for dinner last night but I already want some more!


Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 3, prep time 30 minutes plus hour of freezing time

2 large sweet potatoes
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp brown sugar
several cups of vegetable or canola oil for frying

Cut the sweet potatoes into fries. I always start this by cutting them in half to give myself a nice flat edge to sit them on while I cut them up. Put the cut fries into a large bowl, and put them in the freezer for at least one hour.
Heat your oil in a deep pot or turn on the fryer, if you have one. Lay out some paper towels on a pizza pan or big plate to drain the fries on. Mix the salt, paprika, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle the tablespoon of corn starch over the fries and make sure they are all thinly coated. This is what gives them crispy exteriors.
When the oil is very hot, add the fries. A two-hand handful is about the right amount to fry at one time, for most pans. If there are so many fries in the oil that some are not submerged, it's too many. Fry each batch until browned around the edges. Remove them to the paper towels and sprinkle with the seasoning mix.
Once all the fries are done, shuffle them with your hands so that the hot ones and the not-so-hot ones are evenly distributed and everything gets plenty of seasoning.

I strongly recommend dipping these in ranch dressing, and/or serving them with turkey burgers. I'll post that recipe for you tomorrow.