Showing posts with label Sweet Potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweet Potatoes. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2016

Gooey Hasselback Sweet Potatoes


Sweet potatoes in January?  Yep!  We are starting our year off right, in my opinion.

We eat these all year round plus I needed a reason to make marshmallows.  I think everyone needs a reason to make marshmallows.  They are beyond amazing.  I personally don't like the texture of store bought marshmallows and was leary of making them for the kids.

Little did I know that I would be hiding said "crack" from the kids because if they touched my marshmallows--someone was going down.  They are ridiculously easy to make and WAY better than the store bought version.

Now don't go crazy--you can use the store bought marshmallows for this recipe. I still buy them on occasion BUT just in case you want to try and make them yourself--GO HERE!  I love this recipe and mine turn out great each time.



Back to the sweet potatoes.  I was curious about this thing that people are always posting titled " hasselback" this and "hasselback" that.  I dug deeper and found that it has to do with the way you cut your potatoes and there is a recipe that was originated in Sweden. If you would like to see that one--go here!  I'm not sure they would approve of using a sweet potato so don't tell them.  It's our secret.

It's fancy and different.  I wasn't too impressed with it because of the stress I put on myself of cutting the damn thing in half--then what?  I like mine just fine baked the old fashion way but for variety I would suggest trying it for company. A gourmet presentation with a simple technique.

I gussied mine up with homemade marshmallows and a pecan crumble.  After that I didn't care how they were cut.


Gooey Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes
1/4-1/3 batch fresh marshmallows or 4 large store bought marshmallows
pecan crumble--recipe below

Pecan Crumble (Make ahead--see below)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans 

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Wash and slice sweet potatoes into thin rows.  Do not cut through the entire potato.  To make this easy, I laid a set of chopsticks out and put the potato in the middle.  Then I held all three together while I sliced away.  The chopsticks prevented me from cutting the potato all the way through. 

2.  I baked the potatoes until soft, about 45-60 minutes in my oven.  I laid the marshmallows across the top and returned to oven until melted.  I added the premade crumble before I served them.

To make the Pecan Crumble: Mix ingredients together and spread in the bottom of a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Check and add time if needed.  Once cooled, use a metal or plastic spatula and break apart.  I would recommend parchment paper--this helps because you can lift the parchment and break it apart.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Honey Cinnamon Sweet Potato Sticks


I know I posted a sweet potato recipe last week and looking at my future post I have one scheduled again for next week.  What can I say?  We love sweet potatoes and I am having fun in the kitchen experimenting with creative ways to prepare and season them.

In my opinion honey and cinnamon taste well when tossed together with some butter.  I experimented with pan frying the sticks of sweet potatoe.  In the past, I have used leftover sweet potato to fry up the next day.  I wondered , "Could I cook the raw sweet potatoes by pan frying them and would they taste okay?"  Personally I have never had great success cooking a raw potato without precooking it first by baking, boiling or steaming them first.  I thought maybe the sweet potato would fall into this category too.

My surprise success at pan frying the sticks of sweet potato is met with enthusiasm because I felt confident that my future cooking plans with this ingredient could be expanded to include them in more recipes.  I am specifically thinking of using them in stir fry.

I will continue to play with sweet potatoes so don't be surprised if a few more recipes emerge in the next few months. I don't believe that this is a Fall ingredient but one that we should be enjoying all year round.

What is your favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes? I am open to new ideas.

Honey Cinnamon Sweet Potato Sticks

2 cups of sweet potatoes cut into sticks  (try to keep them the same size)
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1-2 teaspoons honey

Season with: cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

1.  Melt coconut oil in a medium frying pan.  Add cut sweet potato sticks and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drizzle honey over the sticks and toss.

2.  Remove from heat and sprinkle with seasonings.  Use as much or little as you desire.  If you wish to add some melted butter, go ahead at this time.

Written by Sherron Watson






Thursday, October 30, 2014

Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes




Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables.  I know they are popular this time of year but we eat them all year round.  I made this recipe this last summer using some fresh herbs from my garden.
This dish is simple.  Food does not have to be complicated to be good.  I am finding great pleasure in making simple foods for my family.

My favorite part about these little cubes of tenderness is the crispy bottoms.  I cook them on high heat with extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil and let them roast.  I don't toss them.  Having the crispy slightly burnt bottoms is what gives them a unique flavor.  If you don't want yours to turn out so black then cook them for less time.  They become tender after about 30 minutes but the extra time allows for them to caramelize a bit on the bottom.


Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or basil
salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 425.

2.  Toss cubed sweet potato pieces in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs.  Add to a large cookie sheet in a single layer.  Roast until desired tenderness has been met.  

NOTE:  Every oven is different so start checking the sweet potatoes after about 30 minutes. In my oven I roasted them for 45 minutes.



Written by Sherron Watson

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Creamy Baked Acorn Squash #SundaySupper


Squash of all kinds are gladly welcomed in our home.  We simply cannot get enough of this vegetable.  For Sunday Supper we are celebrating this versatile vegetable with an abundant list of recipes of every kind.  You will find all of the links at the bottom of this post.

My favorite squash is by far the acorn squash.

It is meaty, has great flavor, easy to prepare and makes an easy meal in and of itself.  Squash is so versatile in recipes too.  I grate them into meatballs, layer them in casseroles, add them to baked goods or saute, bake, fry, grill , freeze or roast each type.


Did I mention we use it A LOT in our home.  I believe I use squash every single day.  Along with the above suggestions I also scramble them into our morning eggs, our smoothies, and omelets.


This recipe is my favorite use of acorn squash.  The squash is baked with this little pool of deliciousness in the center.  The center is heavy cream or coconut milk (I have used both before and they are equally divine), a dab of grass fed butter, salt and pepper and if you want, a sprig of thyme.  The bonus ingredient is cheese.  We are Lacto Paleo in our home so we are not adverse to using a bit of cheese in some of our dishes.  For this dish I grated a 24 month aged parmesan cheese.  Just enough to give it a rich flavor profile.

I threw a few quartered sweet potatoes in to the baking dish too and seasoned them with salt, pepper and thyme.    The sweet potatoes can be eaten later or along with the squash.

When the squash is finished baking, you don't want to cut it in half.  If you do this you will lose the creamy center filling.  You want to scoop the squash out and hopefully get some of the rich cream (dairy or coconut) with each spoonful.

My mouth is watering just writing this.  It is a good thing I just bought an acorn squash last night.  I need to make this for lunch.



Creamy Baked Acorn Squash 
Makes two halves, enough for 4 people

1 large acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
2 tablespoons of grass fed butter, unsalted
1/2 cup of heavy cream OR coconut milk with cream
Salt
Pepper
5-6 sprigs of thyme
1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (optional)
1 tablespoon of olive oil for the sweet potatoes only (optional)
1/4 cup hard cheese like: parmesan, pecorino romano (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Prepare squash and sweet potatoes.  If using the sweet potatoes, drizzle the olive oil over the tops of them.  Place in baking dish.  Add heavy cream, salt, pepper and thyme to the center of the acorn squash.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove and grate cheese over the top.  Bake an additional 20 minutes of until squash is soft.  Bake uncovered.

3.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.



Check out this list of recipes all centered around squash!

More Squash Recipes from the Sunday Supper Crew:

Starters – Appetizers & Cocktails:
Pickles & Relish:
Soups & Salads:
Main Dishes
Side Dishes:
Sweets to Start or End the Day:
Sunday Supper Movement


Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Written by Sherron Watson

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Tallow Roasted Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes



Tallow is rendered fat from beef or lamb bones and/or large pieces of fat.   I make my own beef and lamb tallow or pork lard to use in a variety of recipes.  Some times I buy extra bones and freeze them just for this recipe. My favorite bones are those with bone marrow.   I have also used regular beef bones from my butcher.  While roasting with the larger bones, the fat "melts" away and roast the potato wedges.  You just don't get the added benefit of digging the marrow from the centers of those bones.

My daughter and I quickly run to the kitchen to scoop out any marrow that is left in the bones, most of it has melted onto the cookie sheet and is frying the potatoes as they roast in the oven.  I add a pinch of salt to the tiny little scoops of deliciousness and savor every bite.  Why eat marrow?  The benefits are huge especially if you have auto-immune issues as I do.   Click on the question and it will take you to a blog that explains the benefits better than I can in this short post.

I started roasted potatoes this way a few years ago and they are a family favorite.  I roast the bones to make beef stock.  By adding the potatoes it seemed that I was saving time, cooking two items at once and using my oven more efficiently.

Depending on the type of fat you use, the flavor from that animal, will impart a reflection of the beef or lamb flavor profile.  The lard does not have much flavor and will not be as pronounced.

There are a variety of pictures here:

The first picture is of potato wedges with lamb tallow.  I often buy boneless leg of lamb roast.  On this day I cut the roast up to make lamb kabobs.  I had a nice piece of lamb fat attached to the roast so I trimmed it and slowly on medium heat, melted it down.  I was left with a small amount of tallow.

I heat the oven, added the lamb tallow, arranged my potatoes in a 400 degree oven and roasted them until the bottoms were crispy.  Each oven is different.  My oven took about 40 minutes.


These two pictures below are showing you that I have used a huge bone on the left and the smaller marrow bones on the right.  I use white potatoes and sweet potatoes.  I have also include rutabagas and they turned out great.  The marrow and the melted fat make the best potatoes, in my opinion.  



This picture shows that the the large bone will roast and enough fat will melt away that the potatoes are still roasted.  I have also included a few onions on this tray.



We are not afraid of saturated fat.  I don't believe it is something to fear in our diets. In fact, we invite it into our diets.  My husband and I both recently had our blood work done and found that our cholesterol is perfect.   I believe our diet choices are reflected in our recent yearly examine and our doctors are impressed with our weigh loss and healthy habits.

What we did cut out was processed food, refined sugar and most, if not all, junk foods and sugary drinks.  Our focus has changed to healthy fats from grass fed animals, more vegetables and fruits, nuts, nut flours and lots of exercise.

I encourage everyone to do their own research, listen to your bodies and the advice of your doctors.  I can only share with you our experience and  how this change in our diet has improved OUR health.

Tallow Roasted Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

5-6 small marrow bones, cut 1 inch in thickness (ask your butcher to do this)
6-8 potatoes, wedged or diced
1 small onion, sliced (optional)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dried parsley (season with a light hand)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Place bones and potatoes on a large cookie sheet.  Season potatoes with a variety of spices and dried herbs.  I have listed what I usually use but I do switch it up every once in a while.  There are no measurements because use what your family likes.

3.  Roast for about 40-50 minutes.  The potatoes will be very crispy on the bottom and soft and pillowy on the top.

4.  Remove from oven and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.  Refrigerate left overs and reheat in the microwave.

Written by Sherron Watson





Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Breakfast Sweet Potatoes



So many things are running through my mind…LOL    This is the list:

1.  I am up way to early…airport run this morning! I should eat some breakfast.
2.  I had to google the word "hash" for this blog posting, only to learn it's not the word I wanted.
3.  I am so excited that our moving trailer will be here on Thursday. I can almost not contain my excitement. Only to be stressed because I am not sure when we will have time to unload it.
4.  I want to share my pictures of our beach visit from Sunday.
5.  I have to go to Food Network and collect a recipe for Rouladen before I forget.
6.  My son overslept while I was driving to the airport.
7.  I have a list a mile long of responses to email that I neglected yesterday.
8.  Grocery shopping needs to get done today, we are out of so much stuff.
9.  I have a photoshoot next week that I need to buy props for this week.
10.  My house looks like a bomb went off in it, thanks to a minimally supervised 4 yo yesterday…LOL

That's just the beginning!  Often times my brain thinks much faster than I have the ability to do.  In fact, sometimes my brain thinks so fast that my words and sentences are not complete…it's one big mess, goulash or stew.

So I will keep this simple and easy.  This is my style. I will start at the top and work my way down.  Do the best I can to accomplish what is on the list.  I won't stress about the things I did not get done, just be glad that I was able to do something today.

I will start with getting this yummy recipe up and posted to my "log".  This is what Isabella called it last night.  We were watching the food channel and she mentioned that I should make what was being made on TV and post it to my "log" for my friends to see and make too.  I thought it was cute.

As you know, on Saturday, I shot a band tournament.  This is a lot of work.  Once it starts you don't get a break.  They come onto the field every 15 minutes for 2-4 hours or longer.  It depends on the size of the tournament.  Ours happened to be a small one, only 6 bands and a performance by the younger kids in the area.  I was at the school from 10am to about 9pm.  I took 800 pictures.  You can imagine how tired I was.

When we finally crashed that night, the hubster and I both decided that going to the beach on Sunday was out of the question…it was a two-hour drive, hot and it would include lots of walking.  These old bones don't work like they used to….LOL

Sunday came and I woke up early and thought..Dang it, I am going to the beach.  I need a break.  I need to go.  I want to go.  I will go even if it is just me.  To my surprise, I went upstairs and announced I was still going to the beach, and my husband had decided the same thing.   I love it when we are so in tune with each other that this happens.  It was a great day!  Not only did we walk a lot but we also rented a surrey to ride around in for an hour.

 I hope you enjoy these pictures of Ocean City, MD.  It is nostalgic to go to a boardwalk with a huge Ferris wheel.  The day could not have been more beautiful, sunny and hot if we had planned it ourselves.  Time spent with those you love is amazing.

So how did I get to this recipe for breakfast?  I love sweet potato anything…fries, bread, mashed….etc.   You name it and I will try it.  Saturday night, we took Drake out to dinner and I ordered a basket of sweet potato fries.  Of course, they insist on ruining the fries with cinnamon sugar (I don't like this).   I order mine plain…just give me some salt and ranch and call it good.  I think I might have been too tired to eat and had to take my fries home.

Sunday morning while deciding to go to the beach, I knew I wanted to eat a big breakfast…something warm, filling and yummy.  I opened the fridge and my first thought was I would warm up the fries and then I thought,  "How about frying up the sweet potatoes like I do with my baked potatoes?"  It worked.  I grabbed a tart apple, some onion and garlic…fried it together and we had the best, tastiest sweet potato mixture with our eggs and toast.



Recipe:  Breakfast Sweet Potatoes

1 order of sweet potato fries, precooked
1/4 red onion, sliced
1/2 tart apple, cubed
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 T. olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

You can make your own sweet potato fries by purchasing the sweet potatoes.  Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/4 inch thick disk (the long way of the sweet potato). Take each disk and cut into 1/4 inch strips.  Try to make them all the same size.  Heat oil in a pan and fry your sweet potatoes.  Drain the fries on paper towels.  Add salt.

With the freshly made fries or leftovers, cut them into 1 inch long pieces.  Cut your apple and onion.  Heat your oil in a frying pan.  Add the garlic, onion and sweet potatoes.  Fry until the onion starts to turn transparent.  Add the apple cubes and continue cooking.  I cooked mine for about 15 minutes total time.  This is pretty quick, you just don't want to overcook your apple and have it get too soft.  You want the crispness and flavor to not be lost.

This can be served for breakfast or as a side dish.  It has lots of fall colors and definitely can be changed to fit your taste buds.  Remember the combination of the sweet and tart are what makes the flavor so good.


If you would like to see Ocean City and how beautiful and unique it is, I have shared a few pictures below.  ENJOY!

You must know that I abhor bridges.  I get sweaty palms, anxiety out of this world and usually do not breath the whole time we are on them.  My biggest fear is drowning in a car going off of a bridge.  Now you know way too much information about me…LOL  But I do love this picture of the Bay Bridge that I took while driving.


The smell of a pier takes me back to my childhood of when we lived in San Diego.  I loved this picture too.  

The sand was so clean.  The beach was not crowded.  We are in off season and the weather was perfect…clear blue skies for as far as the eye could see.

This is down by the Ferris Wheel.  I honestly don't know how many miles the walk it, maybe 3 or 4 miles.

Clams Casino…this was fantastic!





We rented this surrey to drive up and down the boardwalk.  There is no way we could have walked it with Isabella and no stroller.  This was fun!


This lady showed up with her two great danes.  They were so beautiful!  I laughed because they really wanted her bucket of french fries.  LOL

This building is a mess, but in an artistic way.  Inside they sell posters, artwork and paintings.  




You can't go an amusement themed board walk and not get cotton candy.  She struggled with the wind and her hair.  They were both a sticky mess that night.  But, oh she had a good time being in the sand and at the beach.

Donut Breakfast Casserole

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