Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping Recipe

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Ingredients

* 3 lbs of yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), peeled, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
* 1/2 cup maple syrup
* Salt
* 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
* 6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
* 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
* 1 1/2 cups pecans

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat a large pot of salted water (add a tablespoon of salt for every two quarts of water) until boiling. Add the yam rounds. Cook the yams until the water starts to simmer again, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, then rinse in cold water.

2 Butter a baking dish. Arrange the yam rounds in the baking dish, overlapping the pieces, layering the yam rounds to fill up the dish. Sprinkle each layer liberally with salt. Sprinkle the yam rounds with orange zest if using. Pour maple syrup over yams. Dot with 2 Tbsp of the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until yams are almost tender, about 20 minutes.

3 Put 3/4 cup pecans in a blender or spice grinder and grind into a coarse meal. Coarsely chop the other 3/4 cup of pecans.

4 Mix the ground pecans and brown sugar together in a medium bowl. Using your fingers, mix in the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Mix in the chopped pecans.

5 Sprinkle the pecan mixture over the yams. Bake the yams, uncovered, until the topping browns, about 15 minutes.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin

Smitten Kitchen's latest post. Used kale and collards from the backyard, and manchego and parmesan cheese on hand. It smells wonderful in my house and i haven't baked it yet. i didn't cook the ribs separately cause my greens were so young that the ribs weren't tough.

Swiss chard can be a real pain to prep, what with the rib-separation and rendering of unfathomable volumes down to a few measly cups of cooked greens. I like to chop, wash and dry mine the day before, but if you’re especially in a rush, I see no reason you can’t swap pre-washed (3 pounds) or even frozen spinach (about 5 to 6 cups). I also don’t see why you can’t swap the sweet potato for thin slices of butternut squash but then you will have less of an exuse to say “yam-yam” to the baby over and over again until he laughs.



Serves 12

1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups heavy cream or whole milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) coarsely grated Gruyére cheese

Prep greens: Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add chard leaves by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper then transfer greens to a colander to drain well and press out liquid with back of a large spoon.

Make sauce: Combine cream or milk and garlic in small saucepan; bring to simmer; keep warm. Melt two tablespoons butter in a medium heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, one minute, then slowly whisk in warm cream/milk and boil, whisking, one minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Assemble gratin: Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter deep 9×13 baking dish. Spread half of sweet potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and a 1/4 cup of the cheese. Distribute half of the greens mixture over the cheese, then sprinkle salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and 1/4 cup of the cheese over it. Pour half of bechamel sauce over the first two layers then continue with the remaining sweet potatoes, more salt, pepper, herbs and cheese and then the remaining greens, salt, pepper and herbs. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the gratin, pressing the vegetables slightly to ensure that they are as submerged as possible. Sprinkle with the last 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake gratin for about 1 hour until golden and bubbly, and most of the liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Do ahead: You can make the entire gratin but not bake it up to a day in advance and keep it in the fridge. You can also make and bake the gratin and reheat it. Gratins reheat well, but they take almost as much time to gently heat through as they do to bake in the first place, especially deep ones like this. As for reheating, already baked and frozen, I will find out very soon! But I am near-positive it will be fine.

Shepherd's pie

The turkey loaves recipe is a meat loaf with broccoli and red peppers, onions and garlic, green peas and adobo glaze. the broccoli mix is diced vegetables sauteed a few minutes in oil, and the mashed sweet potatoes are just that.
Filling:

* 3 Adobo-Glazed Mini Turkey Loaves , mashed
* 1 cup Broccoli and Red Bell Pepper Mix
* 1 chipotle chile, diced
* 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper


Topping:

* 1 1/2 cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes
* 1/4 cup Onion and Garlic Mix
* 1 teaspoon light butter
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 cup chives, coarsely chopped

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Preparation

Filling:
Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl; mix well. Spread into a 10" pie plate.

Topping:
Combine all topping ingredients except chives in a bowl. Spread on top of filling. If not serving immediately, cover and freeze. Or bake at 400° until top browns, about 20 minutes. Garnish with chives.

spicy korean chile chicken

Spicy Chile Chicken
from Quick & Easy Korean Cooking by Cecilia Hia-Jin Lee
Spicy Chile Chicken

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken
, cut into about 2-inch pieces
1 yam, peeled and cut into thin strips about 2 inches long
1 small onion, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 head cabbage, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 green onion, cut into 2-inch lengths
3 tablespoons Korean chile paste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

Makes about 4 servings
This and many other wonderful recipes may be found in Cecilia Hia-Jin Lee's
Quick & Easy Korean Cooking




There is a town in the Gyeonggi province of Korea that specializes in this dish. You can drive down the streets and see a chicken restaurant on practically every corner. All the joints are pretty much the same with huge, flat griddles on the table. Once you sit down, the waitresses will pile on all the ingredients, pour on the chile paste seasoning, and cook the dish right in front of you as you salivate in anticipation. You can re-create the fun at home with an electric frying pan or make it in a large skillet or wok.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the chicken, yam, onion, zucchini, cabbage, and garlic and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables
begin to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the green onion, chile paste, soy sauce, and sugar
and cook for a couple of minutes or so.

Serve immediately with hot rice.

Variation:
If you're using an electric frying pan on the table, you can keep the chicken hot as you eat from the frying pan. As you near the bottom of the dish, add leftover white rice to the pan with a bit of sesame oil and make fried rice to finish off the meal.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Adapted from Southern Cakes, by Nancie McDermott. from orangette, the blog.

I was introduced to this cake by my friend Shari, who co-curates the inspiring site this joy+ride.

This cake is perfect for late winter: moist, fragrant, warmly spiced. You can roast, peel, and mash the sweet potatoes ahead of time, and from there, the cake comes together fairly quickly and easily. The recipe comes with an optional buttermilk glaze, which I used and liked very much, but you could go either way. sider that a warning.

For the cake:
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
½ cup milk (low-fat is okay)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes

For the buttermilk glaze (optional):
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup sugar
4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, cubed
1 ½ tsp. cornstarch or flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan. (If your pan is nonstick, you can get away with just some cooking spray; no need to flour.)

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk well. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and light brown sugar until light and fluffy, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sweet potatoes, and mix until the batter is combined. (The batter may look terrible at this point: curdled, weird, terrible. Don’t worry.) With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Beat to just incorporate. Then add half of the milk mixture, and continue to beat on low until well blended. Add the remaining flour, followed by the remaining milk, and beat on low until the batter is thick and smooth.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge to loosen the cake, and then carefully invert it onto the rack.

Meanwhile, make the glaze, if using. In a medium saucepan, combine the buttermilk, sugar, butter, cornstarch, and baking soda. Place it over medium heat, and bring it just to a gentle boil. Immediately remove it from the heat, stir well, and set it aside to cool to room temperature. Add the vanilla, and stir well.

Set the wire rack - with the cake atop it - over a rimmed sheet pan. Spoon the glaze through a fine-mesh sieve over the warm cake. (I recommend using a sieve because my batch of glaze had some little gelatinous bits of clumped cornstarch in it.)

Cool completely before servin

Pimento Cheese Bisque

Savannah Sweet Potato Bisque
Moosewood Restaurant



The Savannah Sweet Potato Bisque is served at Moosewood Restaurant for $4.99. This recipe is for a serving size of two.

This is a collection of 2 recipes, one of which has 2 parts:
West Indian Red Beans
Coconut Rice
Savannah Sweet Potato Bisque

Moosewood Restaurant has served this soup in one version or another since the 1980’s. Moosewood called it "Pimiento Cheese Bisque" back then. In the restaurant kitchen, the bisque is sometimes made with pimientos and sometimes roasted red peppers. White potatoes can substitute but a deeply colored sweet potato makes it look beautiful.

Bisque Ingredients
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced sweet potato
1 cup diced white potato
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/2 of a 4 oz jar pimientos, chopped
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Steal This Recipe® step-by-step Instructions
1) In a saucepan, cook the celery and onions in the oil on medium heat, stirring occasionally
2) When the onions are translucent, add the sweet and white potatoes, stock or water, cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes
3) Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the cheeses, allow to soften a few minutes
4) Puree the soup in an immersion blender, blender or food processor with half of the pimientos
5) Add the rest of the pimientos and salt and pepper to taste, if the soup is too thick add milk, water or stock
6) Reheat gently but do not boil

Pimiento Cheese Bisque. Reprinted from Sundays At Moosewood Restaurant. Moosewood Collective. Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 1990.