Thymely Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Again, these were requested over at Musing & Mutterings, but if I don't keep any & all recipes here, they're totally going to be non-findable for me later.

Thymely Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Peel two giant-sized, 3 regular, or 4 smallish sweet potatoes. Cut into 1/4" to 1/2" dice.  This should  be about enough to cover a 9x13"pan at pretty much a single layer.  Pour on some olive oil and sprinkle on some (fresh, preferably, but dried is fine) thyme & some (preferably coarse-grained/kosher) salt.  Bake at 350F (very adaptable to more/less heat), stirring occasionally but not too often, until sweet potatoes are soft & have acquired at least one roasted/caramelized/not-quite-burnt-but-really-brown side.

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

This was requested over at Musings & Mutterings, but if I don't also post it here, I'll completely lose track of it.  Fancy name notwithstanding, I totally made up this recipe, so adapt at will!

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

Cook a butternut squash.  For me, that means halve a butternut squash and scoop out the seeds. Put both halves cut-side down in a 9x13" pan with about 1/2 inch of water and cook for an hour, or until soft.  Scoop the flesh out of the skin and discard the skin.  (You can totally do this ahead of time or, as in the case of this Turkey Day feast, use leftover squash.)  Mash/mix the squash with butter.  LOTS of butter, and a fair amount of brown sugar and a decent splash of vanilla.  Mash until you deem the texture suitable, adding more butter as needed. (Julia Child note: more butter is good!). I made ours early with leftover squash & kept it warm in a minicrockpot, which worked very well.

June Theme - Starchy Side Dishes

Hello, all & happy June! As I was pondering a theme for this month, my eyes wandered along the tags over there to the right, and I noticed that we've only got about 10 things tagged as starchy side dishes.* Now I know we've got more than 10 potato or noodle or rice recipes that we make. Not that they are usually as glamorous or exciting as a fancy main dish, but it's sure nice to have some good staple side dishes to be able to round out a meal, or bring to a potluck (or Thanksgiving dinner), or just eat for a meatless/meat-light supper.

Currently, we have

• The Garlic Fries I just posted. Cooking Light & French fries? Really? Yes!!!
• Or you could make their Sweet Potato Spears.
  
• Cauliflower & Potato Gratin via The Wednesday Chef. Delicious.
• We should all make Diplowhat's Swiss Potato Casserole, if for no other reason than she can't get the ingredients to make it herself.
• Do Bruleed Mashed Sweet Potatoes count as a starch or a veg? I couldn't decide, so I tagged it with both.
• Nectarine's Crockpot Mashed Potatoes look perfect for a big get-together or potluck!
• Syl's Crockpot Mac & Cheese looks like another winner!
  
• And who can forget about Pusher's Bloggy Potatoes?! Not us!

So, how about it? Can you find a starchy side dish recipe to share this month?




*I know it's kind of a funny name, but that's how I divide it up in my own recipe box - "starchy side dishes" like Potatoes Anna, rice pilaf, stuffing, etc. vs. "vegetable side dishes" like green bean casserole, roasted beets, brown-sugar carrots, and so forth.

Garlic Fries

Back in April, this recipe inspired my Wednesday Fun question about your favorite French fries. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting it. My kids don't like garlic, so I made it without step 4 & it was still delicious. I think the Yukon Gold potatoes are totally the way to go & make these especially wonderful. From Cooking Light magazine, April 2002.

Garlic Fries

3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch thick strips [I made these with Yukon Gold potatoes and they were way better than any other kind I've tried.]
4 tsp. vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
Cooking spray
2 Tbl. butter
8 garlic cloves, minced (about 5 tsp.)
2 Tbl. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbl. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Combine first 1 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, tossing to coat.
3. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400F for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning after 20 minutes. [Don't turn too soon, or the crispy part will stick to the cookie sheet instead of the potato. If they don't want to turn after 20 minutes, leave them 5 more & try again.]
4. Place butter and garlic in a large nonstick skillet; cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add potatoes, parsley, and cheese to pan; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
   

Wednesday Fun #130 - Favorite French Fries

Last night's recipes were both a big success! Hooray! Now, one was for oven-fried chicken and the other was garlic fries (minus the garlic step considering my audience!), so nothing too exotic or complicated, but both were delicious... and both were from Cooking Light.

It got me thinking... I'm usually a big ol' fat potato-y steak fries lover, or those Ore-Ida Crispers, but these were excellent (and yeah, I'll post the recipe), and maybe my new favorites. Who knew Yukon Gold potatoes, oil & salt could be so delicious?!

How about you? What's your favorite French fry?

Cauliflower & Potato Gratin

Yum. I made this Cauliflower & Potato Gratin last week and it was so good, and warm, and yummy. It would make a great side dish or a vegetarian main dish with a salad. Might be a good option in a case like AKJ's Thanksgiving dilemma last year where she needed to bring a side, but somebody else was bringing potatoes, and veg, and sweet potatoes, etc.

I'm just copy-pasting the recipe over here from The Wednesday Chef, but do go over there to read her fabulous description of it because it'll totally make you hungry.

Note: I used fontina instead of Gruyere, and it filled a 9x13 glass baking dish perfectly.

Cauliflower and Potato Gratin
Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish

1 (1 1/4-pound) head of cauliflower
1/2 pound small boiling potatoes
Salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup butter
1 leek, white part only, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons crème fraiche or sour cream
3/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese, divided (about 1 1/2 ounces)
Freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the dried base and green leaves from the cauliflower and discard them. Separate the head into florets about the size of walnuts and chop the stem into similar size pieces. Cut the potatoes into similar-size pieces as well.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high head and salt liberally. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and the cauliflower and potatoes (the vinegar will help keep the cauliflower white). Cook until the cauliflower pieces are tender enough to be easily cut with a spoon, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. While the cauliflower is cooking, make a cheese sauce. In a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and stir in the leeks. Cook until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and whisk to make a smooth paste. Add the milk a little at a time, cooking until it thickens. When all the milk has been added, reduce the heat and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the crème fraîche, then one-half cup of the Gruyère, 1 teaspoon salt and a generous grating of nutmeg (a little less than one-quarter teaspoon). Whisk until smooth, then taste and add more salt or nutmeg if necessary.

5. Butter a 6-cup gratin dish and spread a thin layer of the sauce evenly over the bottom. Arrange the cooked cauliflower and potatoes in an even layer over the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the top and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. It should come about three-quarters of the way up the vegetables.

6. Scatter bread crumbs evenly over top and then scatter the remaining one-quarter cup Gruyère over that. Bake until the gratin is bubbling and the top is browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve immediately.

Swiss Potato Casserole

I will be asking my mom to make this for me when we get to the US as I can't buy hash browns here (and sour cream is hard to come by).

This dish works as a breakfast, with a side of ham or bacon, or as a potato dish at dinner. It can be mixed the night before and put in the oven later, but if you do this you may wish to reduce the onion. It also re-heats well.

2, 1 lb packages hash browns (I recommend Simply Potatoes)
1/2 C. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 c. chopped white onion
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
10 + oz grated cheddar cheese

Mix hash browns with all ingredients in large bowl. Blend well. Place in a greased 3 qt casserole or 9x13 pan (I always use the 9x13 pan). Top with a sprinkling of paprika.

Bake at 375 for 50-60 min, covered. (till center is very warm)
Remove cover and bake 15 min more.

Enjoy! (Man I miss this!!!)

Bruleed Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I know this doesn't help AKJ with her Thanksgiving side dish problem, but it's a yummy non-marshmallow-but-still-sweet way to do sweet potatoes. From Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002.

6 c. hot mashed sweet potatoes (about 4 lbs.)
[I peel 'em, cut 'em up small, and roast 'em in a lidded casserole with maybe a Tbl or two of water added. After, um, 45 min? they are soft enough to mash in the casserole with a potato masher.]

3/4 c. whole milk
3 Tbl. butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
Cooking spray
1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Spoon potato mixture into a 11x7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 c. brown sugar evenly over top. Broil 2 minutes or until sugar melts. Let stand until melted sugar hardens (about 5 minutes.)
   

Yield: 14 servings (serving size: about 1/2 c.)

Notes: I don't think the size of the baking dish matters that much other than as it affects the ratio of sweet potato to sweet, crunchy topping. So, like brulee? Put it in a larger pan and spread on more sugar! Also, I bet if you wanted to, you could make and mash the sweet potatoes ahead of time, then reheat them in the microwave and continue with the recipe as written, but I've not tried it that way yet.

Crockpot - Mashed Potatoes

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese softened
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
6 cups warm mashed potatoes (prepared without milk or butter)
In a bowl combine the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, salad dressing mix, and parsley; stir in potatoes. Transfer to a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. Yield 8-10 servings

I make this for holidays. It is great because you can make it a day or two in advance and just turn your crockpot on and not use more space in the oven.

No-Knead Bread

Last winter I came across this recipe for No-Knead Bread and I've been wanting to try it ever since. Let me just say right out that I am not a bread baker- I love to bake, but it's usually cookies/pie/cakes etc. Rarely will I bake bread. However, I love fresh homemade bread and I don't even mind the kneading/ rising/ kneading. It's kind of satisfying. A karmic way to earn the fresh baked yummy-ness.
But my curiosity got the better of me and I'd read that this bread was really quite good. The trade off for not kneading is that you have to wait about 24 hours between the urge to bake bread and the urge to eat the bread. The first rise is a 12-18 hour wait, another 2 hours for the second rise, 45 - 60 min. to bake, and then a little time to cool.

This is how the dough looked after the initial rise (18 hours or so). It looked more like pancake batter than bread dough and I was dubious. I was worried if I took it out of the bowl it was going to just run all over.


I managed to get it floured and set for the next rise- and it didn't quite double in size, but it did expand a bit and I got it into the pan. (sorry for the white on white here). It still did not look like a promising bread.


But THEN! Ta-dah! After baking for 45 min. the top was a nice golden brown and pretty crusty. When I put it on the wire rack, it was still cracking and popping. I cut into it a few minutes later and it looked great- nice crust, soft and chewy middle. It tastes really good too!


I used maybe a little too much flour in the second rise (but it was so sticky!) but I'm definitely going to try it again. This recipe is supposed to be very forgiving so you can add cheese, or herbs or dried fruit to make it savory or sweet.

Bloggy Potatoes

Originally posted in a comment at The Bus o' Love, reposted here because Ms. Huis Herself asked me to. I don't remember where I got this one.

Au Gratin Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400°

3 lbs. thinly sliced red potatoes
1 1/4 cups creme fraiche
1 1/4 cups shredded gruyere, shredded
Salt, pepper & paprika to taste
parsley or crushed rosemary

Generously butter a 9x13 cake pan. Add in layers: half of the potatoes, half the creme fraiche, and half of the cheese, add salt, pepper and paprika. Repeat. Bake 45 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle parsley or crushed rosemary over the top.

Crockpot Mac and Cheese

Stolen from the internet, but it has been a huge hit at the office:

8 oz elbow macaroni
4 c. shredded cheddar
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Cook macaroni and drain. Mix macaroni, 3 cups of the cheese, and all other ingredients in the crockpot. Sprinkle Remaining cheese on top. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours, or until firm and golden around edges. Do not remove cover or stir while cooking.

Sweet Potato Spears

I got this tasty, healthy side dish out of the October 2002 Cooking Light magazine. I'll often substitute it for French fries if making burgers or meatloaf. It probably takes about 15 minutes of prep, and 25-35 minutes in the oven, so about 40-50 minutes total.


1 1/2 lbs. sweet potato [2 decent sized ones - this will be enough that your cookie sheet will be plenty crowded, so if you do more, plan on more than one cookie sheet]
1 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Cooking spray

Peel sweet potato, and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch wedges [no bigger]. Combine potato wedges, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and nutmeg. [In Ms. Huis Herself Land, a good jot of olive oil, and various size sprinkles/pinches of the rest - no need to get anal on the measurements!] Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; place in oven on bottom rack. Bake at 450 F for 25 minutes [to 35, depending... like if you have your oven at a lower temp for something else] or until tender, turning once.

These heat up well in a skillet, but just get soggy in the microwave.

Footnote for the Cooking Impaired: Yeah, this may be obvious to the rest of you, but your average apple cutter is NOT strong enough to use on a sweet potato, so don't even think about cutting your sweet potato in half, putting the cut side down, then trying to "easily" cut it into wedges that way... not that I'm the voice of experience on that or anything...