rosemary chicken and oregano smashed potatoes

while in knoxville this past weekend, i noticed an interesting new piece of landscaping outside my in-laws' house. right before we left, we found out it was an enormous herb garden so my father-in-law snipped me off a bunch of rosemary and - my favorite as of late - oregano.

i got lindsay to pick up some chicken on the way home and i put it in the skillet on medium with evoo while i boiled two potatoes that i'd cubed. to the chicken, i added (kosher) salt, fresh ground black pepper, and a couple of dashes of chili powder (it really takes a lot for it to do anything); then, after it had been going for a little while, i added 4 cloves of chopped garlic and about 4 medium length sprigs of rosemary (washed and chopped). it ended up not being enough rosemary as i wanted to really be able to taste it. the chicken was delicious but mainly because of the oil, garlic and other spices.

after the potatoes were tender (fork test), i drained them, put them back in the pan and added (kosher) salt, fresh ground black pepper, and half of a stick of butter. at this point, i've got to make it clear that lindsay was hovering and giving tips and such so don't think this is just me. i was kind of making it up as i went along though. so anyways, i start mixing the potatoes a bit, trying to leave them as chunky as possible and i exclaim: "i need some kind of a creamy base!" next thing i know, lindsay has whipped out a small (4 oz.?) container of sour cream and more butter (which it needed as well). at the same time, i added two long sprigs of oregano (washed and chopped) which proved to be just the right amount.

lindsay made some cole slaw to round out the meal with a colorful veggie and the whole thing was pretty good. the herbs were tasty and spiced up what would otherwise be a pretty ordinary meal. that being said, it's not like it was that extravagant either.

edit: i meant to throw a hat tip to my good friend jen and i guess rachael ray and the food network. reading and watching them has ingrained some cooking basics in me.