Chicken Breasts, Broccoli, and Sweet Potato Fries

2 chicken breasts (one per person)

2 strips bacon (one strip per breast) - I use uncured, pastured pork.

2 tbls of butter

4 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary

4 leaves of sage

In the afternoon, place chicken breasts in bowl, cover with water and add 3 tablespoons of salt.  Let soak in the fridge until just before cooking.

Preheat oven to 400.  

In a saute pan, melt butter and add chopped herbs.  Lightly cook herbs for 1 minute and remove pan from heat.

Remove breasts from brine, rinse, pat dry and place into saute pan, carved side down.  Use a brush to spread the herbed butter over the surface of the chicken.  Place a slice of bacon over each breast (you may need to cut each slice in half and place the two halves over the breast to get better coverage.)  

Put saute pan in oven and cook until desired doneness.  I cook until the bacon is starting to look slightly underdone and the breasts are at 160 F.  Remove pan to stove top and let sit for 10 minutes prior to carving.  They can sit up to 30 minutes in the pan on the stove top.

Sweet potato fries can be purchased pre-made and frozen or easy made ahead of time.  Just cut sweet potato into strips, parboil for a minute and then coat with the oil/lard/butter of your choice.  I use mine straight from the freezer and they cook up fine.  Place them onto a cookie sheet as a single layer and bake at the same time as the chicken.  It should take about 20 minutes to get the desired crispness.  I like mine with mayo, so I prepare homemade mayo with olive oil.  Yummy.

Broccoli.  While the other two items are in the oven, take any heritage or young broccoli and quickly saute in pork leaf lard or other fat of your choosing.  After cooking, add a little lemon juice and a sprinkle of parmesan.  Chop up the bacon from the chicken and add it to the broccoli.  If it's young enough this should only take about 3 minutes, so save it until the end.