Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Here's another alternative to that traditional sweet potato pie I was talking about yesterday, but this recipe has a savory spin on it.  These are as simple as it gets, all you have to do is peel and chop the sweet potatoes.  Then it's as easy as tossing them on a baking sheet with a little olive oil and some spices.  Roasting them at a high temperature, results in a crispy outside and soft inside.  These would be great as a healthier alternative to fries as a side for burgers.  Make them as a side dish for Thanksgiving, they would be great with a spice-rubbed turkey like this turkey breast.  A turkey breast is a great idea for a smaller Thanksgiving meal. 

  

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 T olive oil
1 tsp Ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop sweet potatoes into approximately 1/2 inch cubes.  Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil.  Combine spices in a small bowl and sprinkle liberally over potatoes.  Toss well and bake about 20-25 minutes.  Use a spatula to turn the potatoes about halfway through the cooking time.  The potatoes should be crispy on the outside and easily pierced with a fork.

Sweet Potato Bake -- A Healthier Way

Maybe you are used to the marshmallow covered sweet potato "pie" served so often served at Thanksgiving, maybe you like your sweet potatoes baked and topped with sweet cinnamon butter.  These sweet potatoes are usually whipped with cream or butter and then topped with sugar or marshmallows and baked.  The result, a dish that could pass for dessert disguised as a side dish. 

This dish is still sweet, but due to the sweet potatoes natural sweetness and apple cider, rather than a lot of extra sugar.  I love them combined with apples and cranberries.  I also prefer them in chunks rather than whipped.  These are really easy and can be made for ten people just as easily as for one person.  You can bake up each person's serving in individual ramekins or bake it all in one big dish, whichever is easier.  The below recipe serves two.  I like to use an apple like Gala or Honeycrisp for this dish.

Come back tomorrow for a savory sweet potato dish!

Sweet Potato Bake

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and cubed
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup apple cider
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop sweet potatoes and apples into approximately 1/2" cubes.  Divide potatoes and apples evenly among to two ramekins, divide cranberries among baking dishes.  Add half of the cider to each ramekin.  Combine spices in a small dish and sprinkle over potato mixture.  Toss to combine. 

Bake approximately one hour, stirring every twenty minutes until cider has cooked down to a glaze and potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. 

Homemade Gnocchi and Classic Meat Sauce

I first had gnocchi at a friend's house in college. Before that I had never even heard of gnocchi but it was so good. My friend's mom made "Nonna's recipe" and it was a big mystery as to what she did to make the light, fluffy potato dumplings. Then a couple years later, I was visiting the same friend and requested that we make it. This time I helped, but we'd had a couple of glasses of wine and everything went fast and somehow I learned that I needed a potato ricer and that it was important to not add too much flour and that was about it. Another year went by and I had gnocchi soup at Olive Garden and bought a couple packages in the store but it I still wanted to learn to make it myself. So I put a potato ricer on my Christmas list and decided to try. After searching several recipes online, I mixed a couple together and it turned out really well for a first attempt. While gnocchi can be made without a potato ricer, the tool gives it a much lighter, fluffier texture.

Gnocchi

2 lbs russet potatoes
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, pierce potatoes several times with a fork, and bake for about 1 hour until fork tender. Cut the potatoes in half and cool about 5 minutes. Scoop filling out skins and process through a potato ricer over a large bowl.


Beat egg yolks and make a well in the center of potatoes. Add egg yolks and salt and about 1 cup of flour. Gently mix together with your hands until well combined. Lightly flour a large board or counter area and turn dough out. Work in another 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour as necessary until the dough holds together. It will still be slightly sticky. Divide the dough into baseball-sized balls and roll into long snakes, about 1/2" - 3/4" in diameter.

Using a sharp knife, cut into 1" sections. Continue to add flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking. Roll each section along the back of a fork, forming the lines on the gnocchi.

Transfer to a wax paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cooking. If you aren't going to cook them within 24 hours, freeze the gnocchi flat on baking sheet, and once frozen transfer to a freezer bag and store.

To cook, heat a large pot of water to a gently boil. Add salt and gently drop in a small amount of gnocchi, if cooking the full recipe at once, do it in 4 batches so you don't crowd the pan. Gnocchi are done when they float to the top, about 3 minutes. Scoop out floating gnocchi with a slotted spoon, draining slightly and toss with sauce.


Classic Meat Sauce

3 cans diced low sodium tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 lb lean ground turkey or beef
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T chopped, fresh basil
1 T chopped, fresh oregano
1 T dried, Italian seasoning
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or heavy bottom pan, add olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add onions and cook about 3 minutes. Use a wooden spatula to make a space in the middle of the pan and add meat, breaking it up slightly. Cook about 5 minutes breaking it up as it browns. Add garlic, cook about 3 more minutes until meat is browned. Add tomatoes and Italian seasoning and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook about 30 minutes until tomatoes have broken down, add tomato paste and continue simmering an additional 30 minutes. Add basil, oregano, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.


This makes a lot of pasta sauce, I used about 1/2 for the gnocchi recipe above and froze the other half in gallon size freezer bags.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

An easy, yet impressive looking side dish. For some reason, most people seem to think a twice-baked potato is a challenge, but in reality they can be prepared quickly and easily. You can also change up the filling to whatever flavors you want. This cheddar and chive filling works well with any classic meat and potato meal. For an extra special finish, I transferred most of the filling into the potatoes and then piped on the top with a large star tip.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

4 baking potatoes
1/2 cup whole milk
2 T butter
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
Chives

Bake potatoes in the oven (about 45 minutes) or microwave for about 10 minutes, stabbing multiple times with a fork. Cool for about 5 minutes and then cut off the top 1/4 of the potato. Using a clean kitchen towel, hollow out the potato with a spoon, leaving a 1/4" thick wall. Transfer potato filling into a mixing bowl.

Add milk, butter, cheddar cheese and garlic to bowl and combine. Snip about 1 T of chives and mix in. Spoon mixture back into potatoes. Reserve approximately 1/2 cup and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe onto top of potatoes. Bake approximately 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Thanksgiving Recipes, Part 2

These sweet potatos are, without question, the best sweet potatos I've ever had. The pecans, the apples, the cranberries, all combine with the sweet potatos to make a perfect Thanksgiving (or really any fall day) side dish.

Growing up I hated sweet potatos. The only time of year we ever had them was Thanksgiving. We had the canned yam topped with marshmallow variety and it was awful. I wouldnt even think about trying them.

Then one day I had sweet potato fries at a restaurant with a honey lime dipping sauce... and they were delicious.

So I got a little braver... and tried a baked sweet potato at another restaurant, sprinkled with brown sugar and butter. Also excellent. So then I tried making them at home and I discovered, that I really liked sweet potatos...

And now I think they are my new favorite side dish. So long as they aren't mashed. I still dont like mashed potatos, sweet or not.

Sweet Potato Bake with Cinnamon Crunch Topping

Recipe inspired by Cooking On The Side, originally from McCormick

4 large sweet potatos

2 apples

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 cup all purpose flour

4 T butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter or spray a 9x13 baking dish. Peel and chop the sweet potatos and apples into large chunks. Add cranberries and toss with brown sugar and 1/2 of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ginger, vanilla extract and orange juice. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile mix together flour, remaining brown sugar, spices, and cut in butter using a pastry blender or forks until it forms a crumble. Add pecans and sprinkle over the top of potato mix. Continue baking uncovered for another 30 - 45 minutes until potatos are fork tender. Recover with foil if top begins to brown too much.

Sweet Potato - Apple Bake

An easy, healthier alternative to a traditional mashed sweet potato casserole that's simple enough to do as a side dish for a weeknight dinner or you could dress it up for a holiday dinner.
Sweet Potato - Apple Bake
(Serves 4)


1-2 apples, diced in large chunks
2-3 sweet potatos, diced in large chunks
1/4 cup of orange juice
1 T lemon juice
2 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg


Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray. Peel and core apples, dice into large bite size peices. Toss gently with lemon juice. Peel sweet potatos and cut in half. Cut each half in half again and slice into rounds approximately 1/2" thick. You want to keep the pieces consistently sized so they cook the same. Add to apples and add brown sugar, orange juice and nutmeg and toss to evenly coat. Bake for approximately 1 hour until potatos are tender. Stir about half way through cook time to keep the top from drying out.


To dress this up, any of the following make great additions: golden raisins, dried cranberries, butternut squash, walnuts or pecans.

Spicy Seasoned Oven Fries

Spicy Seasoned Oven Fries

2 russet potatos

2 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut potatos in half, then in half again, cut each wedge into approximately 1/2" strips, making all the fries about the same thickness. Pour olive oil over potatos on the pan and sprinkle with spices, toss to coat evenly and spread out into a single layer on the pan. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, flipping about half way.