I had a hankering for fried chicken and decided to see if Lance Knowling, executive chef and owner of Indigo Kitchen in Montclair, could help me out.

Sure enough, he did! Lance cooked up a batch of Indigo's signature, Company Fried Chicken, just the way his mother did when company came over! 

It's healthy to enjoy your fried chicken with a side of vegetables. Here's Lance's recipe for his Whipped Sweet Potatoes:

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Serving: 10

5 3/4     pounds  yams -- peeled and chopped

5/8        pound  brown sugar

5/8        quart  heavy cream

1/16       cup  imitation vanilla extract, no alcohol

1/16       cup  ground cinnamon

1/16       cup  ground nutmeg

1/4         pound  unsalted butter -- chunked

 

Place yams in a large pot and boil until tender, do not over cook, place potatoes on a sheet pan and dry out in a 350* oven, do not let potatoes brown.

While potatoes cook, in a pot,  mix together all other ingredients except butter, stirring well to incorporate. thoroughly.

Bring the cream mixture to a slow boil and reduce about 1/4 for a nice caramel flavor.

Remove from heat and whisk in butter.

In a large container, mix together the liquid and the dried out potatoes very well and check the flavor (more vanilla, spice,etc.)

When blended well,  put mixture in a food processer and blend until smooth.

Yield: 2 1/4 quarts

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 664 Calories; 29g Fat (38.0% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 100g Carbohydrate; 11g Dietary Fiber; 96mg Cholesterol; 55mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 5 Grain(Starch); 0 Non-Fat Milk; 5 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.