SWEET POTATOES FOR BREAKFAST

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

One of the reasons sweet potatoes are so useful for baking is because they can add moisture and creaminess to baked goods without adding significantly to the fat content. I love to make muffins, and this recipe is one of my favorites. The cake portion of the muffin is light, fluffy, and not too sweet, and the sugared nut topping adds just the right amount of sweetness and crunch. If you want a really decadent breakfast or teatime treat, they are really good spread with some maple butter (1/2 stick butter whipped with 1/4 cup maple syrup). I like them all by themselves too.

These muffins would be great to take with you if you're traveling to stay overnight with family or friends. The basis for this recipe comes from Marie Simmons' little book, Muffins from A to Z.

Sweet Potato Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup brown sugar + 2 T.

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed (about 1 medium potato)

1/4 cup maple syrup + 1 T.

1 1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease your muffin tin and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients--flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt--in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Add the sweet potato, syrup, buttermilk, and butter, whisking until well combined. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones, mixing until just combined. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. For the topping, stir together 1/4 cup of chopped pecans, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops are brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

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THE WEEK OF THE SWEET POTATO!

Monday, November 21, 2005

Poor sweet potato. With so many nutrients and such a delectably sweet, creamy flavor and lovely orange color, what do we typically do to you? Whip you up with a lot of butter, sugar, and eggs, and bury you under a layer of marshmallows. What a way to treat one of nature's sweetest vegetables.

I love sweet potatoes. Granted, I first learned to love them buried under marshmallows at family gatherings. Since I started cooking them on my own, though, I've tried to learn how to capture their goodness in more creative (and more health-friendly!) ways.

To begin, I'll tell you how I cook sweet potatoes to have with dinner. Of all the ways I fix them, simply roasting them in the oven until the outside is crispy and the inside is super-creamy is my absolute favorite. I could eat mounds and mounds of these at a time. I usually cook several at one time because the cooked potato has so many different uses.

The first step is to buy good sweet potatoes. They are in season right now, and the local ones here have been fabulous. I like to buy the small or medium-sized ones (the ones in the photo above are a little bigger than I like); they cook faster and tend towards the creamy side. The really huge ones can sometimes be stringy. For dinner, I'll roast about 4 medium-sized potatoes, cut into chunks, and then place 3 or 4 more on the cookie sheet whole, to cook at the same time and to use in other recipes. Here's the method:

Garlic-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with foil. Scrub the potatoes you're planning to cook and dry with a dishcloth. Cut about 4 of them into large chunks--I slice the potatoes into thick circular sections (about 4-5 per potato) and then quarter those sections. I also like to leave the skin on to retain the earthy flavor, but you can peel them if you like. Mince 1-2 cloves of garlic per potato. Spread the cut potatoes on the cookie sheets, making sure that each piece is lying flat on the sheet (no overlapping). Drizzle with olive oil and use your hands to turn them in the oil to coat. Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt, cracked pepper, and the minced garlic pieces. I leave some extra space to bake a few whole potatoes for other recipes later in the week. Roast the potatoes for about an hour, stirring and turning the cut pieces about half-way through. Check the whole potatoes; they should pierce easily with a fork. The cut potatoes should be crispy and golden. Serve as a side for any meat dish, and reserve the leftovers for other uses (recipes to follow, I promise!)

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SUNDAY BREAKFAST

Sunday, November 20, 2005

This weekend our friends Jerrod and Jessie came to visit with their two-month-old baby, Ren. Since we moved away from Jackson, we have really missed not only all the meals we used to share with Jessie and Jerrod but also getting to see Ren on a regular basis. He's grown so much since we saw him six weeks ago!

Usually on Sundays, David and I get up and go to the early service at church, and I fix a brunchy-type meal when we get home. That was our plan this morning too, but somehow, having a baby around tends to complicate even the best of intentions. We did have a big breakfast--scrambled eggs with pesto and parmesan, toast with Aunt Prissy's homemade plum jelly, and sausage--just later than we'd planned and still in our pajamas. Here's what we spent most of the weekend doing:

holding, touching, rocking, watching, listening to the baby! Breakfast was no exception: Ren sat beside the table in his swing, and cooed at us the whole time. The food was good--pesto is a great way to liven up scrambled eggs--but the best part of this Sunday breakfast was definitely the company. Can't you guys just move down here?

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