White and Sweet Potatoes Anna, BBQ Chicken with Shallot Red Wine Reduction

I saw this picture in the LCBO magazine and I wanted to make this dish. I love the way the the tops of the potatoes are browned, the sweet potato layer in the middle and the way it's cut and spaced so nicely.

(Image taken from Autumn 2014 - LCBO Food and Drink Magazine)

But.... not all my recipes end up looking as good as in the magazines. As I mentioned before, I really wanted to make this dish but because the potatoes would take a good 50 minutes to cook, I had to wait for a weekend to make this one. The other thing I was repeatedly asked / told in the days leading up to making it was "What's so special about this dish? It's just potatoes." Now granted it is pretty much just potatoes but for whatever reason I kind of took offense to that comment but that's when I realized that it was just a side dish and I needed to make something with it. I went with the classic BBQ chicken but decided to make a sauce out of some Red Wine and extra Shallots.

Note: My directions differ a little bit from the original LCBO magazine do to lack of cookware.

Ingredients (Potatoes):
4 - Medium Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 - Medium Sweet Potato, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 - Cup Butter, melted
Salt and Pepper
4 - Cloves of Garlic, chopped
1/4 - Cup of chopped sage



Ingredients (Chicken Sauce):
4 - Small Shallots. peeled and sliced
2 - Cloves of Garlic, chopped
1 - Tsp of Rosemary
5 - Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 1/2 - Cups Red Wine
1 1/2 - Cups Beef or Chicken Stock
1 - Tbsp Butter

(I really like how this photo turned out)

Directions:
Since the potatoes are going to take the longest to cook, lets start with those. Using three or four medium potatoes, skin and then thinly slice them.

In the original recipe you are supposed to brush butter in an ovenproof skillet or cast iron pan with but I don't have one (Christmas present Idea!!!) so I used this "Stoneware" container thing but I think not having the cast iron pan ultimately lead to my my final product not looking as good as the magazine.

Back to the recipe. Brush butter all around your oven proof pan. Tightly later potatoes (do a better job than I did).

(Layer 1) 

After each layer, brush with melted butter.

(Layer 2)

(Layer 3)

After laying the third layer sprinkle with half the garlic and half the sage. Now lay the three sweet potato layers brushing butter after each layer.

After laying the three layers of sweet potatoes (only two layers shown in the pictures) sprinkle the remaining garlic and sage on top. Lay two more layers of white potato brushing butter after each layer. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper.

If you are using the cast iron pan, place the potatoes on the stove over medium heat until the butter begins to sizzle. Cover the top with a round of parchment paper roughly the same size as the pan (it should just loosely over the potatoes). Put into the oven at 425 for 45 - 50 minutes or until potatoes are soft and the bottom and edges are golden.

After the potatoes have been baking for about 30 minutes we can start on the sauce. Put the Shallots into a frying pan with some butter. Saute over medium heat for 6 - 8 minutes or until the start to turn translucent. Add in Garlic and Rosemary and cook for another minute.

Add in 5 Tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar. At this point you should probably start the Chicken.

The Balsamic will bubble and start to reduce.

Let it reduce until almost completely gone.

Add in Red Wine and Stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat. The Sauce should reduce by about half at which point you can mix in some butter.

(I didn't let mine reduce enough)

Pull the Potatoes out of the oven and uncover.

Invert plate over pan and flip both pan and plate to turn out. Cut into Wedges (not as easy as it sounds...)

(As you can see, not exactly as the LCBO Magazine picture)

Plate the Potatoes with BBQ Chicken, top with the Wine Sauce.

As you can see, the potatoes didn't turn out as nicely as they did in the magazine and they were pretty much just potatoes.... If you think my sauce looks a little runny then you are right. I didn't let it thicken long enough or I should have added in some corn starch to help with the thickening. On a positive note the sauce tasted really good and went well with the chicken.