i'm not a player, i just cook a lot

I can remember a time as a young boy when I was not allowed to cook. That is to say, I wanted to cook at a young age and so my parents had to actively keep me away from the oven and knives. The explanation of this was simple; my brother entered culinary school at the age of 18, at which point I was only 6 years old. Naturally, I wanted to do whatever big brother was doing... there was also the allure of a great deal of danger via the fire and sharp knives. I was instructed by ma dukes that I would be able to start cooking, on my own, at the age of 12. I can clearly remember the first thing I could actually cook in a pan, on the stove. Scrambled eggs. That became my life for a short time. Scrambled eggs for breakfast every day. "Dad, Mom, would you like some scrambled eggs". it was a big deal. Then i tried spaghetti. It took me about 4 or 5 tries of putting pasta into cold water and having it all stick together to get the idea to ask my mom how to do it properly. i put butter and parm cheese from a shaker on that shit and loved it. and thats how I learned how to cook. i started with the basics and fucked up a lot. along the way i learned a few things, watched a lot of the food channel and read some books and articles. now i can say with confidence, im a good cook. I encourage what few readers I have to do the same.

In that vain, I am posting one of the easiest recipes i know. Roasted Chicken and Potatos. this has to be one of the easiest things i know how to make because it involves only a small amount of prep and no stove top cooking at all.

Roast Chicken and Potato's

Ingredients

1 roasting chicken cut into 8 pieces

2 large or 4 medium potato's cut in 1.5 inch pieces

1 large sweet potato cut in 1.5 inch pieces

1 medium onion sliced thick

2 cloves garlic sliced

4 small sprigs of rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbl spoon olive oil

Method

1. in a casserole dish combine the potato, sweet potato, onion, olive oil, thyme, and some s&p and toss to coat and mix.

2. add a generous amount of salt to the chicken pieces and lay them on top of the potato's skin side up. place rosemary on top of the chicken and cover. if you casserole has no lid, cover tightly with tin foil.

3. place the casserole dish in a 325 degree oven and cook for 1.5 - 2 hours, or until the tops of the chicken turn brown.

4. remove from the oven and let the dish cool down. add some salt and pepper if it needs it.

to serve, remove the herbs and use the liquid at the bottom of the dish as a sauce. it should be savory and slightly sweet from the sweet potato. enjoy

PS. in the pictures, you might notice some sausage. its great as I described above or with a little sausage, like the pics.