Healing the Sick with Yummies in the Tummy

On Saturday, I was on sick duty with Brad and Maya.  A good, hearty soup would have been the way to go, but instead, I decided on ingredients like chicken, yams, fennel, and red onions...all infused with fall flavors.  I went straight to my One Pot Recipes book and came upon two recipes that looked good: Chicken and Fennel, and Roasted Yams.  The chicken recipe called for tarragon, tarragon mustard, and tarragon vinegar.  Not having either ingredient in my pantry, and having no luck finding them in my local grocery, I had to improvise.  As for the yams, the dish ended up being fall in a casserole dish.  The house smelled good, the sickies were curious, and after Brad getting up for seconds, I knew that I had done good.

Chicken and Fennel
3 chicken breasts
Fresh rosemary sprigs (crushed)
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil (enough to coat chicken)
1/4 cup of white wine
Crushed garlic (4 cloves)
Crushed fennel seeds (1tsp)
Chicken broth ( 2tbsp)
Fennel (2 heads)
Wash and dry the chicken breasts, then cut them (on the diagonal) in thick strips.  Sprinkle a bit of salt on the chicken and coat in some olive oil.   In a separate bowl combine the rosemary, lemon, white wine, garlic, and fennel seeds.  Toss marinade onto the chicken and refrigerate for about 2-3 hours.
Once marinated, put chicken on a hot pan and fry until golden brown.  Remove chicken and deglaze pan with the chicken broth.  Chop fennel into bite sized pieces and combine with browned chicken.  Put all ingredients in an casserole dish and bake for 45 minutes at 365 degrees.

Roasted Yams
Yams
Red Onions
Olive Oil
Cinnamon
Salt
Pepper
Chop up the yams into bite sized pieces and steam them until medium-tender.  Cut red onion into wedges; soak in salt water for 15 minutes.  Once yams have steamed, combine with the red onions, sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, and pepper, to taste.  Toss with olive oil and place in an casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes at 365 degrees.