I get a lot of emails asking for more one bowl easy recipes and one "frying" pan easy recipes.
I'm more than happy to share a one-fry pan easy recipe using frozen sweet potato fries.
Can one make a great hash using frozen sweet potatoes?
YES!
Actually, you'll be hard pressed to notice the difference in the hash between normal sweet potato vs. frozen sweet potato fries.
How did I get that nice char, crisp crust on the hash?
Easy, just defrost the sweet potatoes a bit before using.
Simply place the frozen fries on paper towels, let them defrost a bit (about 20 minutes, shorter if your kitchen runs hot). Don't skip this step, it helps take out some of the moisture in the fries which will help them crisp up better during frying.
Look for almost defrosted, with soft outside, but still frozen middle.
Then chop up into 1-inch pieces, try and keep them a uniform size.
Add olive oil to a frying pan, saute onions till a little brown, then place in the chopped sweet potato fries. Place them in as one layer, pushing down a bit, and let them cook till brown and crisp, then turn over. At the very end I like to add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a couple pats of butter, stir, mix, until ready.
If you want spicy then a few dashes of tabasco sauce too.
Remove hash from pan and use the same pan for frying the eggs--don't clean it!
Since there is still a lot of flavor in the pan leftover from the hash.
quick & easy sweet potato hash (made with frozen fries)
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1 bag of sweet potato fries (12 - 15 ounce bag)
1 small/medium onion, chopped
2-3 TB of unsalted butter
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste
cook notes:
Use peppers instead of onions or sundried tomatoes.
Feel free to add a bit of garlic as well.
Adding in cooked sausage is a nice addition as well.
Simply place the frozen fries on paper towels, let them defrost a bit (about 20 minutes, shorter if your kitchen runs hot). Don't skip this step, it helps take out some of the moisture in the fries which will help them crisp up better during frying.
Look for almost defrosted, with soft outside, but still frozen middle.
Next chop up into 1-inch pieces, try and keep them a uniform size.
Add olive oil to a frying pan, and over medium heat, saute onions till a little brown, then place in the chopped sweet potato fries. Place them in as one layer, pushing down a bit, and let them cook till brown and crisp, then turn over and fry the other side.
Don't keep flipping the hash browns, let them be and get nice and brown.
At the very end I like to add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a couple pats of butter, stir, mix, until ready.
If you want spicy then a few dashes of tabasco sauce.
This should make enough for 2-3 servings.
6/9/14
sweet potato hash (made with frozen fries)
4/8/11
sweet potato fries w/ cheeseburger
OK not the most glamorous dish I know. Don't click away. At least think of this dish as meal that you can create/customize to your own liking. If you don't like what I put on it, think about putting your own types of proteins on it. This can easily be a meal; a tasty and creative meal when you break it down and think about the endless toppings that go with sweet potatoes: be it sweet or savory. Still with me? Good.
So lately, with this head cold I've been craving all kinds of foods and creations. Plus I am addicted to sweet potato fries--who isn't? Sweet potatoes are so good for you; nutritional powerhouse, loaded with Vitamin A, and have anti-inflammatory properties which I didn't know. Click here for more info. This dish is really tasty, fast to put together, and almost carb-less. Other inspiration came about from a comment I received when I made the infamous "cheeseburger & sweet potato fries pizza". A person said how they wished they could have this pizza, but are off carbs for a while. Of course that got me thinking why not try and make a "almost" carb-less version of that pizza, but just as tasty? And the best part with this dish is the no carb crash & burn later (which I hate). I know sweet potatoes have some carbs in them, the good carbs. The first round of this I made for breakfast, topping it with cooked sausage and eggs. GOOD stuff! I craved it again and made this version with the cheeseburger.
If you do make this, and I know I will again and again, try it topped with a fried egg or two. And yes, those are pickles on there, but they are bread & butter (sweet). Dill pickles do NOT go too well with this. Also, you all know I have a fussy hubby that hates vegetables and fruits BUT he eats this, all of it. And his dad loves me for that and gives me kisses for it too. Gotta love that right? :-)
The show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" is that an excellent show or what? Well one episode they had sweet potato fries loaded with chili, and then another they had Chef Cat Cora giving us her favorite way. So glad to see and hear that sweet potatoes are quickly becoming popular, and even made into restaurant-like chains and food trucks. Wouldn't that be fabulous to have a food truck that serves up sweet potato fries topped with various fresh toppings, themes, and trio's of dipping sauces? I would get my fries topped with a taco salad or maybe a good thai style peanut sauce. If I was in a sweet mood, maybe some warm melted peanut butter with a hint of maple syrup and raisins. How would you top your sweet potato fries?
sweet potato fries w/ cheeseburger
print recipe
1 pack of frozen sweet potato fries
1 pound of ground beef
salt & pepper
couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 - 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
bread & butter pickles, optional but amazing
ketchup, optional but wonderful
Other ideas:
a couple fried eggs on top
caramelized onions
Bake fries according to package direction.
Brown ground beef.
In the last few minutes of browning the beef add in the Worcestershire sauce, then add in the cheese. Take off heat.
Layer fries on a plate, then add the cheeseburger mixture, and pickles. Or whatever else you fancy.
3/25/11
cheeseburger and sweet potato fries pizza
Love my weekly homemade pizza nights. It's a time for me to get creative and think of new (quick & easy) ways to kick up my pizza. So while staring blindly into the freezer for 15 minutes I couldn't think of anything to top my pizza. But staring back at me the whole time was a bag of sweet potato fries. Well, yeah, duh. Why not? And it worked fabulously. You really need to try this. It's so easy, quick to put together, and the leftovers (cold) are to die for. I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
And oh one more thing, this is the PERFECT way to get your kids (or fussy hubby) to eat vegetables.
Cook notes: make sure to let your sweet potato fries thaw a bit before using, about 30 - 45 minutes. You want them still firm but thawed just a bit. I know I've said this before but the whole grain pizza dough from whole foods is to die for good (freezes perfectly too).
3/8/11
sweet potato burritos
One of the great things I love about the sweet potato is they easily take the place of a meat--if seasoned right. I don't like to eat a lot of meat. Once a month I love to make my infamous cheeseburgers. I do crave them at least monthly.
I hope there are a lot of sweet potato lovers out there since I seem to post them a lot on here. They are just so versatile for meals and even for sweets. Remember when I made the sweet potato cupcakes? Yes. Need to make those again.
sweet potato burritos
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sweet potato hash (recipe below)
4 Flour tortillas
Cooked rice, any kind, any flavor
Monterey jack cheese, shredded
4 – 6 strips cooked bacon, chopped
Sour cream
Other add ins:
Beans
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Leftover chicken, pork, steak, tofu crumbles
Scrambled eggs
The list is endless….
For the sweet potato hash:
2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
EV olive oil
A few TB’s of butter
salt & pepper
¼ - ½ cup caramelized onions
Worcestershire sauce
1 – 3 chopped adobo chile peppers in sauce, minced (these are hot so use caution)
Caramelize some onions (about 1 giant sweet yellow onion) after it's done caramelizing add a few drops of the Worcestershire sauce, set aside.
Heat up same skillet (don’t clean it) with some EVOO and fry up the sweet potatoes until nice & crispy, season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking add a few tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt into the hash. Then add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, mix until combined. Then add in the chopped/minced adobo. Stir.
To assemble:
Warm up the tortillas, Fill with the sweet potato hash, bacon, rice, cheese and sour cream. Serve.
1/23/11
sweet potato hash w/ adobo and fried tomatoes
It's really hard to do a post after those fabulous chocolate ganache donuts with salty pistachios. I mean how can you compete with that? Well, let me see if I can try.
Sweet potato hash I know I've made before for you, but had to share another version that I enjoyed so much so that I know you'll love it too. I actually make sweet potato hash a lot, in various ways: stuffed in a burrito with cheese and rice, under eggs, over french toast, in soup, oh the list is endless because it is so versatile and tasty.
If you're a heat-junkie like me then you will love this hash. I adore adobo's--it was the perfect pairing to put them in a "sweet" potato hash.
How have you made hash before? Any favorites?
sweet potato hash with adobo
print recipe
2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
EV olive oil
A few TB’s of butter
salt & pepper
¼ - ½ cup caramelized onions
Worcestershire sauce
1 – 3 chopped adobo chile peppers in sauce, minced (these are hot so use caution)
Caramelize some onions (about 1 giant sweet yellow onion) after it's done caramelizing add a few drops of the Worcestershire sauce, set aside.
Heat up same skillet (don’t clean it) with some EVOO and fry up the sweet potatoes until nice & crispy, season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking add a few tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt into the hash. Then add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, mix until combined. Then add in the chopped/minced adobo. Stir, then serve with eggs and fried tomatoes.
fried tomatoes
2 – 3 med size tomatoes, sliced thick, set on paper towels to dry up moisture
1/4 - 1/2 cup Flour
2-3 TB cornstarch
few dashes Old bay seasoning
2 - 3 TB cornmeal
Salt & pepper
EVOO and butter for frying up tomatoes
In a flat bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Heat up same skillet you used for the sweet potatoes (no need to clean it as it has great seasoning still left in it). Melt up some butter and EVOO. Dredge the tomatoes in the dry mixture and fry them up until brown & crispy on both sides.
1/8/11
bourbon-vanilla bean pork roast w/ spicy pecan gravy
MmmHmm, this dish has layers of flavors. This is a sunday kind of roast dinner dish. Seriously good. The kind of dish where hubby pops in the kitchen every two hours asking "is it ready yet?". Yep, one of those kinds of dinners, where you can smell it all through the house and even outside. Remember those as a kid? Playing outside all day in the crisp fall air, coming inside for the first time and smelling your mom's roast and veggies that had been cooking for hours. Remember that smell? Remember that warmth of the kitchen? Good stuff.
This dish is worth all the prep, the marinating, etc.. Speaking of marinating I did leave this roast soaking in the marinade for 6 days. It was kind of like the Seinfeld episode (the one where they wanted to see how long they could drive the car that was almost on E? And the drive literally kept going and going and going?) Really anything soaked in booze is better right? I think I could have gone 8 days.... What would Kramer have done?
bourbon-vanilla soaked pork roast w/ spicy pecan gravy
loosely based from Emeril Lagasse
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Cook notes: I soaked my pork roast for 6 days and it was fine. The longer a meat soaks in booze the better. Make sure you pat the roast dry before roasting it. Always roast your meats on a rack, this helps with even cooking. The gravy is very thick; I like mine very thick. If you do not, then just add in more chicken stock. The gravy is not that spicy, but a gentle heat; add in more or less as you desire. And it really does help to use a high quality bourbon—makes all the difference in taste (less alcohol taste).
1 vanilla beans, split and scraped
1 ts Madagascar vanilla extract
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup plus 1 TB apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
A couple dashes of cinnamon
¼ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup of good bourbon
1 pork loin, tied (about 4-6 pounds)
In a small saucepan, combine: vanilla beans, vanilla extract, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, orange juice, and bay leaves. Cook over medium heat until sugar is melted and the mixture is at a gentle boil, about 15- 20 mins. Take off the heat and add in the bourbon. Let cool.
Place pork in a glass or ceramic pan. Once marinade is cool pour on pork roast. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 48 hours. PLEASE turn the roast over every 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove pork from marinade and pat dry. Transfer marinade to a saucepan and reduce volume by at least 1/3. (throw away the bay leaves). We are going to use some of the reduced marinade in the gravy. Recipe from dawn finicane of http://vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Place pork on a rack on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a thermometer reads 155 degrees F. Always let the meat rest before slicing into it; at least 5 – 10 minutes.
spicy pecan gravy:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
¼ cup chopped red onion
1/2 TB chopped garlic
1/8 ts cayenne pepper (I used ½ ts)
2 TB flour, sifted
1 cup pork reduction liquid
1 cup chicken stock
Make sure to toast your pecans! Then in a saucepan cook red onions in butter for about 5 – 8 minutes. Then add in the pecans, cook and stir for about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, cayenne pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
Add flour (add in the flour via a sifter so you get no lumps), cook for 2 minutes, then add marinating liquid and chicken stock.
Continue to cook until sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed.
brown sugar-cream cheese mashed sweet potatoes:
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
4 ounces cream cheese, room temp
3 TB butter, room temp
1/4 cup plus 2 TB dark brown sugar
A dash or three of pure maple syrup
Roast cut sweet potatoes in 400 degree oven till done; about 20 – 30 minutes.
Mash potatoes or use a food mill or ricer. Using a large plastic spatula, fold in butter, cream cheese, dark brown sugar, and maple syrup. Taste test, and add in salt & pepper if needed.
Serve immediately.
12/29/10
cheesy sweet potato and corn chowder
Make sure to get your sweet potatoes nice and crisp; you need that texture in the soup. Those chicken bouillons really do make a difference, so try to use them. This soup freezes really well, just make sure to freeze it straight away after about 15 minutes of a cooldown. You might want to serve this in a sourdough, marble, rye bread bowl. That would be fabulous. Adding roasted or grilled chicken to this would be great too. Even chunks of lobster meat.
cheesy sweet potato & corn chowder
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3 – 4 large sweet potatoes, cut into 2 inch chunks and roasted
1 cup of chick stock
2 cans of creamed corn
8 ounces of cream cheese, room temp
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup of half & half
1 – 2 TB chicken bouillon powder or you can use crushed bouillon cubes
1 & ½ cups of shredded Monterey jack cheese
This is a very thick, rich soup.
Peel and cut up sweet potatoes into 2 inch chunks. Throw them in a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil and salt & pepper. Transfer to a roasting pan and roast in 400 degree oven till nice and crisp. About 45 minutes?
In stockpot, mix the creamed corn with chicken stock, cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, half & half , and chicken bouillon till heated through. Keep warm over low heat till sweet potatoes are done. When potatoes are done throw them in the soup pot. Mix and taste test. See if it needs salt & pepper. When ready to serve turn up heat a bit and add in the shredded cheese. Serve nice and hot. This is great served in a bread bowl. Freezes great too.
Should serve 4.
11/13/10
ham and egg cups
For example, you can add in hash browns (precooked of course), you could use crumbled sausage, you could use brie cheese, you could add in sliced apples with the brie cheese with the ham (with or without the egg). See? The list is endless and fun. So your kids could get involved too. I'm sure your kids would love to have the opportunity to make their own ham & cheese cup? Might also be a great way to get them to eat their fruits and veggies?
ham & egg cups
Print Recipe
Notes: I used giant muffin tins. I’m sure regular size would work too, just reduce cooking time. You can’t see in the photo, but there is a bottom layer of sourdough bread. It might be fun to use pre-cooked hash browns as the bottom too. Just make sure the pre-cooked hash browns are at room temp or warmed up before placing in muffin tins.
Best advice: play with the ingredients; this is a very versatile dish that can easily be used to swap in new ideas.
Yummy Ideas: brie, ham & apples; salsa, egg & cheese; sweet potato hash, sausage, & egg; pizza style eggs; french toast & bacon; mini omelets inside the ham...oh the endless possibilities.
Toasted sourdough bread, cut into circles to fit into bottom of muffin tins
10-15 medium sliced, slices of ham (don’t use really thin, they will burn)
6 large eggs, room temp (they cook faster if room temp)
Salt & pepper
freshly chopped parsley or tarragon, for garnish (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray. Place the ham in the muffin tins and flute out the edges, then place the cut out sourdough toasted circles in each muffin tin. (if you want to add in precooked hash brown chunks this is where you add them in in place of the bread).
Carefully crack each egg into the muffin egg, making sure not to break the yolk. Immediately bake for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the egg is done to your likeness. (Remember I used giant muffin tins; if using regular size muffin tins reduce cooking time a bit).
6/2/10
asian beef short ribs over warm balsamic potato salad
Would you believe this is my first time making beef short ribs? I can't believe it either. I don't know why I haven't used these sooner because they are the perfect sponges for sauces. I remember always passing them by at Whole Foods thinking what the heck am I gonna do with those? They don't look very meaty to me, and to be honest they really don't. They look all fatty, but underneath all that fatty is the hidden gem of tender meat. Really tender. The only downfall is they are not cheap--very expensive, but it was worth it. A meal you won't soon forget. And as I said before they are the perfect vessel for sauces, and you all know how I love my sauce.
Please bear with me, I think I got all the ingredients for the ribs; I kind of used what came to mind and/or what it needed as I went along. But you're all smart little foodies and know to taste your sauce as you go along and see what it needs, right? Good.
asian beef short ribs
by vanillasugarblog.com
print recipe
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 TB sesame oil
4 TB ketchup (oh yeah, gourmet time)
4 TB rice vinegar
4 TB minced fresh ginger
About 5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 ts red pepper flakes
4 - 5 lbs beef short ribs
Preheat oven to 260 degrees.
Mix soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic and red pepper in a bowl.
Place ribs in a dutch oven and pour sauce over.
Cover and cook about 4 hours, then move them around a bit, cook for another hour with the cover off. Check to see if they are done (the meat should be really tender and falling off bones, if not, just cook a bit longer).
Remove ribs from crockpot. And at this point I like to make a reduction sauce using the sauce along with a bit more brown sugar & ketchup (taste as you go along and add what you think it needs); reduce till nice and thick. (this should be enough for four people).
warm balsamic potato salad
4 large potatoes (I use russet, use whatever you like)
¼ cup of Hellmans mayo
2 TB high quality balsamic vinegar
Dashes of black pepper
5 TB red onion, chopped fine
3 TB chopped scallions
First make dressing mix all the ingredients but the potatoes and scallions in a dish and chill.
Chop up potatoes into med. size chunks. Boil in salted water until just tender. Drain very well, I mean very well, and let them be and cool off a bit. OR if you want a cold salad this would be the time to chill them in the fridge for a while. When ready add the sauce to the potatoes and stir, then add in the scallions. (this should be enough for four people)
3/20/10
sweet potato quesadillas w/ fig reduction, spicy corn relish and pecans
Aren't quesadillas fun? I mean you can literally put anything and everything in them. Not to mention the vast amount of cheeses out there that can be used in quesadillas is enormous. I have rarely used queso blanco cheese. Not because I don't like it, but because I haven't found what works good with it since it is a very mild cheese, almost like a mozzarella cheese. I just loved the layers of flavors in this sweet potato quesadilla. It has the sweet/saltiness of my fried sweet potatoes, the mildness of the cheese, the sweetness of the fig reduction and then some heat with the spicy corn relish. Of course I had to add my sweet & spicy pecans to it for extra crunch. I got those pecans (as everyone knows who follows me on Twitter) at Trader Joe's. It's gross really how much of those pecans I consume on a weekly basis. Have you tried them? Is there anyone out there that is addicted to them as I?
With these quesadillas, if I was to make them again I might go with a stronger tasting cheese next time, maybe a mild cheddar. Don't get me wrong these were good; I just love to always improve upon my creations the next time, then the next time, and so on.
Also, you may have noticed that my copyright logo/name are getting more bigger and/or prominent on my photos? This is because I have, again, been the victim of someone stealing my photos. But now they are cropping out the copyright stuff. This happened once before and I learned that I should put a visible copyright mark on them. I would hate to have to eventually make a visible watermark in the middle of the food photo. Why people steal others works and photos is beyond me.... If anyone can tell me how to add a visible watermark while retaining the quality of the photo I'm all ears.
Sweet potato quesadillas w/ fig reduction & spicy corn relish
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I used my sweet potato hash for the filling of this quesadilla.
Sweet potato hash
2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
EV olive oil
A few TB’s of butter
salt & pepper
caramelized onions
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
couple dashes of Tabasco sauce
Caramelize some onions (about 1 giant sweet yellow onion) after it's done caramelizing add a few drops of the Worcestershire sauce, set aside.
Heat up same skillet with some EVOO and fry up the sweet potatoes until nice & crispy, season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking add a few tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt into the hash. Then add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, mix until combined. If you want a bit of heat like I do then add in some cayenne and/or Tabasco.
Use some of the hash place it the middle of a large tortilla, add a few chunks of queso blanco or queso fresco cheese, a few dashes of Tabasco (optional). Seal edges of tortilla with egg wash, fold over and seal and then fry up in a non-stick pan. The egg wash will seal up once it gets hot. Serve with fig reduction and/or spicy corn relish (see below).
Fig reduction
Is nothing more than this jam cooked over medium heat till it reduces and thickens a bit. If you’re not into making your own jam, then you can buy some premade and heat up. But I do suggest you try this fig jam recipe as it’s really good.
cinnamon fig jam
from eatingoutloud.com
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lb. mission figs (about 10-12 figs)
1 3″ strip lemon zest
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 lemon juiced
Add water and sugar to a pan and place on a medium heat to dissolve.
Remove the stems from the figs and cut into quarters. Add to the sugar mixture along with lemon zest, cinnamon stick, and lemon juice. Bring the mix to a light simmer and leave the pan uncovered. Cook for about 1 hour or until the mix thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
The spicy corn relish is from stonewall kitchen. I buy this stuff by the case -- it’s that good.
1/8/10
homemade cheesy tater tots
Cheesy tater tots, now? Yeah yeah new year's resolutions, I got it--everyone is on a diet....blah blah blah. Homemade cheesy tater tots will make you cheat on your new diet. That's it. LOL Kidding. I'm a foodie, it's hard for me to diet, I try I do. I doubt I will ever give up my fatty fried foods and calorie dense sweet treats. Foodie for life--word! I just have to workout more and more, and then again some more.
These fabulous cheesy tater tots I made I got inspiration from Nick over at Macheesmo (love that name). I pretty much followed his recipe, but wondered why he hadn't added cheese to the potato batter. You know? So I added cheese and did a couple other things.
So if you are looking for the BEST superbowl appetizer, oh yeah this is it. Or if you really want to make something for your friends, family or sweetheart and watch them just melt with happiness, this is it! Yes, this will impress. There is no way you can eat just 5, I mean when I made these Christmas day, they were gone in 10 minutes. That friggin good. Deep fried, crispy, cheesy, gooey, salty goodness dipped in sauces baby! Can I get an amen? Food of love people, food of friggin love.
cheesy homemade tater tots
adapted from Macheesmo
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4 Russet potatoes, peeled & chopped I used 5 medium)
1 egg (beat well in a small dish)
1/2 Cup milk (I did NOT use this)
3 TB unsalted butter (I used 5 TB)
1 Cup all-purpose flour
(½ cup sharp cheddar cheese grated fine)
Salt & Pepper
2 Large bags, plain kettle cooked chips or a few cups of Panko crumbs. (I used all Panko crumbs)
Deep-fry thermometer
Making the tots. It should be no surprise that these guys start with potatoes.
The first step for these guys is to make mashed potatoes. Now I’m not sure how they make real tater tots. I know it’s closer to a hash brown product, but mashed potatoes are a lot easier to shape and also happen to be delicious. To start, just peel and slice your potatoes.
Boil them for 10-15 minutes in salted water until the potato pieces are fork tender. Then drain them and transfer them to a bowl.
Using a fork, mush up your potatoes and let them cool for a few minutes until they are room temperature or slightly warmer. (Beat egg, well, in a small dish before adding to mix). Then add your butter, flour, egg, and (cheese). Add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Filling mixed.
To make the crunchy exterior of the tot and also give it some shape, I decided to try out two different toppings: crunched up kettle chips and Panko breadcrumbs. Both worked pretty well actually.
You cannot shape these until they are coated with the Panko crumbs. Make them into the size of a teaspoon, yes that small. Just drop a few teaspoons of mashed potatoes in your bowl of crust. Roll them around until they are coated all the way around. Then you can easily pick up each tot and shape it easily in your hand. Just roll them like you would a cookie only not as much pressure. You can try making them into a cylinder shape like Nick did. Then transfer them to a baking sheet and until ready to deep fry.
Cooking the tots. Make sure your oil is at 350 degrees before you do any type of frying. This is crucial. Once the oil reaches 350 degrees then you can start frying; do not overcrowd pan though. Unless you have a large pot you really should do semi-small batches. (I fried about 10 per batch in my 8 quart pot with about 3-4 inches of oil). They should only need about 5-7 minutes per batch. Once you scoop them out of the oil, transfer them to a paper towel and salt them immediately (I did not salt them—they really did not need it). Feel free to add whatever seasoned spices you crave. Serve with sauces--any kind would work actually. Here are a couple that I used.
horsey-blue cheese dip
from vanillasugarblog.com
3 tb of horseradish sauce
2 tb of blue cheese dressing
2 tb of Hellmans mayo
2 tb of sour cream
1 -2 ts of superfine sugar
Dashes of paprika and freshly chopped chives
spicy ketchup
ketchup with a few dashes of spicy chili oil and whatever else you desire.
9/13/09
sweet potato fries w/ caramelized onion-horsey dip
Are you tired of the sweet potato and carmelized onion themes? No? Cool. Seriously, ask any foodie out there, isn't it always all about the sauce, the dip, marinade, the drippings, etc..? Truth be told I am one of those people that when in a restaurant or in my own home I always want extra sauce; have no problem asking for extra sauce on the side. And you know it's nice to meet other foodies out there that share my same affinity for 'extra sauce'. Since I've started blogging, I've noticed and adore how many foodies out there that love extra sauce. In my last post, banana custard tarlettes, I talked about how as a young child I loved my extra sauce--I still do. A good sauce that has depth of flavor, as well as many flavors mingling inside, not just one or two, but many flavors in the beginning of the bite and at the end of the bite. This dip is one I created from my deep love for truly good caramelized onions. You know the kind of caramelized onions that take hours to caramelize and develop? I wanted to try and incorporate these caramelized onions into a spicy horsey creamy dip. I mean come on, caramelized onions and horsey sauce--Onwards I say! This also has fire/heat to it and it has that horsey heat to it as well (double the fun). Of course I need a vehicle to eat this dip, I mean you could use your fingers, but the sweetness of the sweet potato fries does add a really nice contrast to the two types of heat in the dip. I would imagine this dip would taste good with potato chips (might be kind of salty and hide the deep heat), but I prefer the sweetness of the sweet potato fries. Carrots or cukes would go very well with this.
Oh BACON, baaaaaconnn should be added to this! Quick write that down!
print recipe
¼ cup mayo (Hellmans)
¼ cup sour cream
Couple pinches of cayenne pepper
Couple pinches of chili powder
3 TB or more of horsey sauce
3-4 dashes of hot sauce
2 TB of catsup
3 TB caramelized onions
Mix all together. You might want to puree the caramelized onions if you don't want chunks in the sauce--up to you. Please let this chill at least 3 hours before serving so all the flavors meld nicely together and get all nice and happy.
And add some real, crisp bacon chunks to this; I must try that next time.
9/6/09
sweet potato hash
I truly don't have anything to write as I just made this literally a mere few hours ago and wanted to get it posted ASAP. You must make this. If you are a fan of the 'hash family' not hashish, although that might be kinda good..no don't go there! Let's stick with the fact that this is one very tasty hash. It truly melds perfectly with fresh hollandaise sauce; wow do they go together! So many flavors in this hash all melding together nice and cozy. Have you ever seen sweet potato hash? I've never seen this before, but had it in the back of my mind for a while and finally put it to the hot, greasy skillet this morning.
sweet potato hash
by vanillasugarblog.com
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2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
extra virgin olive oil
a few TB of butter
salt & pepper
caramelized onions
few dashes of worcestershire sauce
couple dashes of Tabasco sauce, optional but wonderful
Caramelize some onions (about 1 giant sweet yellow onion) after it's done caramelizing add a few drops of the Worcestershire sauce, set aside. Heat up skillet with some EVOO and fry up the sweet potatoes until nice & crispy, season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking add a few tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt into the hash. Then add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, mix until combined.
I served the hash with a fried egg and a touch of fresh hollandaise sauce (as seen in the background of the pic). Love my sauces; sauces are my friend. I'm a true sauce-junkie. Raise your hand if you are a sauce-junkie!
4/26/09
sweet potato & vanilla bean cupcakes
The wonders of creating new baked goods with sweet potatoes always excite me. I am a sweet potato-holic, can't get enough of them. I found this recipe over here, and decided it was perfect, nothing else was needed (although I did change the frosting a bit) and I wanted to create it in mini cupcake form. I love mini cupcakes, so easy to eat so many in a sitting! I just wish I could decorate them better to make them cuter. But I am absolutely horrible at decorating them (as you'll notice in the photo). Plus I really should get one of those turning cake stands--they do help, yes? Do you know that I have on my list to take cake decorating classes? Anyone else out there doing this or have done this? I can't wait. Now I have to hope for a class close to cape cod to appear! I really don't want to have to drive into Boston for this. For those of you that do decorate and are fairly good at it, what did you buy for decorating tools and where? I would love to know, since if I can't find classes, then maybe I can buy them and just practice, practice, practice.
My changes: for the cake no nutmeg, and I used mini cupcake pans. Made about 12 mini's, not much batter. For the frosting I did 1/2 - 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar, 2TB fresh OJ, half stick of room temp butter (unsalted), tiny pinch of salt, whipped up very well and then chilled for a bit before frosting.
sweet potato cupcakes
adapted from blog.serialcooking.com
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Cook notes: this does not make much batter. I was only able to get 12 mini muffins from this. You can try using a loaf pan, but use a small one.
Cake:
225g mashed cooked sweet potatoes (1 small sweet potato)
150g plain flour
110g butter
100g dark brown sugar
50ml yogurt
1 egg
1 vanilla pod (alternatively you can use vanilla extract but the taste won’t be quite the same)
½ tsp ground nutmeg (I did NOT use this)
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
For the icing:
½ - ¾ cup confectioners sugar
2 TB freshly made orange juice
Half stick of unsalted butter (4 ounces), room temp
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350 degrees). Spray a mini cupcake pan with non stick spray.
Cream the softened butter with the vanilla seeds scraped out of the pod, sugar, ground nutmeg and salt.
Add in the egg, slightly beaten.
Mix well until well blended.
Add the mashed sweet potatoes and yogurt.
Combine the baking powder and flour and add to the mixture. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Leave to cool.
To make the icing, mix the icing sugar, butter whip then add in the orange juice. Chill a bit before frosting.
When the cake is cool, spread the icing on top.
