City Chicken--Sweet Potato and Bacon Hash-- Mushroom Ragu

I honestly am unsure where or how the concept of city chicken developed but without researching it I will wager a guess that in days of old, some urban areas, where fresh farm animals were not readily available came the concept of city chicken. Cubes of pork and veal skewered on a stick to resemble a chicken leg! Is there any better explanation out there? Small chance you will see city chicken at a grocery store, at least not where I’ve lived. You might see it in a butcher shop, and if not, ask them if they can make it for you. Most shops know what it is and if they have the chunks available they will gladly assemble it for you.

How to cook it? The old standby method. Dip the skewers in an egg wash, coat with Panko crumbs or bread crumbs. Pan sear on all sides in a mixture of olive oil and butter until brown. Finish in the oven until done. About 30 minutes at 350 should do it.

I’m a gravy lover (Sauce lover if you like) so I usually have some sort of a brown sauce, like bordelaise, mushroom sauce, or whatever you have in your pantry that you like. Mushroom ragu was my choice today.

This particular day we received some fresh sweet potatoes from a neighbor and decided to try a new recipe called Sweet Potato Hash. Basically bacon, onions, and small cubes of the potatoes. It was very tasty and a good accompaniment. It amazes me that such a veggie can be made in so many different ways. My wife, years ago, would not go near a sweet potato. Yuk, she said, to the sweet and syrupy marshmallow topped concoction of old. Today Sweet potato hash, fries, mashed, etc. are all on the plus side to try. Recently, on GMA, Emeril made a sweet potao salad. Grillled slices of SP, topped with red onion slices and a mild vinegarette. Looked good.

We'd love to hear your commments and feelings about sweet potato's. Chef P' is insistent that the skins are nutritious? Keep them on or not?