I mentioned in my last blog that I forgot the prepared sweet potatoes for my catered Thanksgiving dinner.
Pat had brought cranberry cornbread so we were stuffed without them. But Natalie and I came home to about two quarts of Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes. We could have just heated them and served them but I decided to immediately start using them for breakfast. On our arrival home, we had found a mysterious package on our front steps containing limes, lemons and plantains with no indication of the giver.
The next morning, I envisioned sweet potato cakes and plantains, so hauled out 1 1/2 cups of the sweet potatoes, added bread crumbs and whole wheat flour and and egg, then spooned them into the frying pan with a little oil, and cooked them into little cakes. I quartered the plantains and sauteed themwith the cakes. Very delicious. I didn't make the mix quite stiff enough so will have to work on this. But the savory sweet potatoes seem much more delicious than sweet ones.We gobbled them up before I thought about taking a picture.
For the following day's lunch, I finely chopped half an onion and one garlic clove and sauteed the onion until very soft and caramelized, then added the garlic, followed by chicken stock and about three cups of potatoes. I kept adding the stock until the soup was the consistency I wanted. I made it in the morning and let it sit for a few hours before reheating it and serving it for lunch. Superb. The onions brought out the flavor of the chipotle peppers more strongly. We each managed to choke down at least two servings and had one more lunch amount left which I ate the next day.
And very serendipitously, while I was catching up on my blog reading, I found a recipe for sweet potato biscuits. that seemed too easy and good to pass up. So I made them for breakfast on Wednesday and served them with an omelet made with our left-over roasted Brussels sprouts, some sliced grape tomatoes and a little cheddar cheese. All of this made us very full, especially since we each ate half the omelet and three biscuits.
I love to explore new ways to cook and use cooking as a problem-solving exercise, as well as an art outlet. One success story from my first few days house-sitting for Natalie was to find a way to use my extra polenta and her eggplants - they are still growing and making about 4 - 6 eggplants per week. So I made a pizza of polenta, stirring Parmesan cheese into the polenta, before pouring it into a 8 X 12 cake pan. While it set up, I roasted eggplant slices and chopped onion, then spread the polenta with a thin layer of canned spaghetti sauce, added the eggplant and onions, then grated some cheddar cheese over all. I put it into a 400 degree oven for several minutes until the cheese melted and everything looked melded together. It was delicious and made several filling meals. Next time, I want to add roasted peppers to it. It would also be good with roasted fresh tomatoes or dried tomatoes, and omit the sauce, but sprinkle Italian seasonings over it. And it would taste good with different cheeses, as well.
As for the sweet potatoes, we have a small batch left which I think I'll just serve us as the were intended.
Pat had brought cranberry cornbread so we were stuffed without them. But Natalie and I came home to about two quarts of Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes. We could have just heated them and served them but I decided to immediately start using them for breakfast. On our arrival home, we had found a mysterious package on our front steps containing limes, lemons and plantains with no indication of the giver.
The next morning, I envisioned sweet potato cakes and plantains, so hauled out 1 1/2 cups of the sweet potatoes, added bread crumbs and whole wheat flour and and egg, then spooned them into the frying pan with a little oil, and cooked them into little cakes. I quartered the plantains and sauteed themwith the cakes. Very delicious. I didn't make the mix quite stiff enough so will have to work on this. But the savory sweet potatoes seem much more delicious than sweet ones.We gobbled them up before I thought about taking a picture.
For the following day's lunch, I finely chopped half an onion and one garlic clove and sauteed the onion until very soft and caramelized, then added the garlic, followed by chicken stock and about three cups of potatoes. I kept adding the stock until the soup was the consistency I wanted. I made it in the morning and let it sit for a few hours before reheating it and serving it for lunch. Superb. The onions brought out the flavor of the chipotle peppers more strongly. We each managed to choke down at least two servings and had one more lunch amount left which I ate the next day.
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| Sweet Potato Soup |
And very serendipitously, while I was catching up on my blog reading, I found a recipe for sweet potato biscuits. that seemed too easy and good to pass up. So I made them for breakfast on Wednesday and served them with an omelet made with our left-over roasted Brussels sprouts, some sliced grape tomatoes and a little cheddar cheese. All of this made us very full, especially since we each ate half the omelet and three biscuits.
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| Breakfast with sweet potato biscuits |
I love to explore new ways to cook and use cooking as a problem-solving exercise, as well as an art outlet. One success story from my first few days house-sitting for Natalie was to find a way to use my extra polenta and her eggplants - they are still growing and making about 4 - 6 eggplants per week. So I made a pizza of polenta, stirring Parmesan cheese into the polenta, before pouring it into a 8 X 12 cake pan. While it set up, I roasted eggplant slices and chopped onion, then spread the polenta with a thin layer of canned spaghetti sauce, added the eggplant and onions, then grated some cheddar cheese over all. I put it into a 400 degree oven for several minutes until the cheese melted and everything looked melded together. It was delicious and made several filling meals. Next time, I want to add roasted peppers to it. It would also be good with roasted fresh tomatoes or dried tomatoes, and omit the sauce, but sprinkle Italian seasonings over it. And it would taste good with different cheeses, as well.
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| Polenta pizza |
As for the sweet potatoes, we have a small batch left which I think I'll just serve us as the were intended.
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