Not Your Grandma's Mashed Potatoes

This was literally the thought process for dinner tonight:

"What could I possibly make that would deserve a big dollop of this butter?"

Panama is many, many things, but it is not the best butter producer. In fact, most of the stuff they pass off as butter in the grocery store is overpriced rather disgusting crap. There is one brand that comes from Wisconsin; the rest I do not recommend.

I'm not really a butter eater, but when I found myself staring a plastic sort of Dixie Cup thing full of butter, made about an hour away on the Pacific coast by a couple who also make Gouda cheese, I couldn't help myself. $11-something a pound? Heck yes it's worth it. Hand it over. (At one point I lived on a mountain top in the Alps and our neighbor was a woman on an Ohm whose cows enjoyed their summer pastures while we enjoyed their butter, milk and buttermilk. I would have gladly paid for that stuff, too.)

Only yesterday I finally got all the ingredients together for my favorite butter carrier: sea salt, brewer's yeast, butter, of course, and popcorn. Before that, though, I'd managed to douse a bunch of vegetables in a sage butter sauce that I learned to make as part of a butternut squash ravioli recipe that I got from Visconti's in Leavenworth when I compiled Savoring Leavenworth. (Also a really great use of good, high quality butter.)

Today, however, I was casting about for ideas. It wasn't that cold, but I wanted some comfort -- and for those of you who don't know, I for some reason take a lot of comfort in sweet potatoes. I happened to have some -- or the version of the sweet potato they have available here, anyway, which is a little different. Candice and Curt sell them: Cuban sweet potatoes, or camote as they refer to them here. They're sweet, white-fleshed, organic, monstrously strange shaped beasts that are starchier than U.S. grocery store fare, and fricking delicious.

So I boiled them. As they boiled, I carmelized some onions and garlic and toasted some walnuts. (The key to making nuts delicious, I have decided, is to toast them in a dry pan until they become fragrant. Try it.)

I mashed the sweet potatoes with a fork, added a little bit of milk (available in tetra paks that don't need to be refrigerated until opened, like milk in most parts of the world I've visited) a big dollop of butter and all my carmelized and toasty warm toppings. Holy delicious, Batman.

And because I had some and promised her I'd try it, I added a couple dollops of Candice's Tofu Tahini.

Candice's description: Tofu Tahini:  Organic Creamy Tofu and Sesame tahini are blended with fresh Japanese Rice Wine Vinegar, Organic Green Onions and Organic Cilantro.  This dressing is rich and creamy with no Cream!  Not just delicious on salads, pour it over rice, pasta, beans, grilled chicken!

Holy Hannah, Robin! (I'm sorry, apparently tonight I'm 12 years old.) Candice sells it as a salad dressing, but if you are ever in need of a dairy-free, nutty and flavorful sour cream, this is it, folks. THIS is the stuff. It sure may not look pretty, but neither did I shoveling it into my mouth. 

Incidentally, if you're looking for a less butter-filled way to eat the stuff, might I recommend it as a dip with crudites?

Apple Sweet Potato Roast Pork

"This pork roast is baked with all the right fall and cold weather ingredients: honey, orange juice, apple juice concentrate, brown sugar, sweet potatoes, and apples. It is a great “white” meat to serve over the holidays." - Kristin Wood, Icicle Ridge Winery -->

Contributed to Savoring Leavenworth: Pairing Local Wines with Regional Recipes for Leavenworth, Peshastin and Cashmere by Kristen Wood, Icicle Ridge Winery.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves: 8-10

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 to 4 lb. boneless pork loin roast, fat trimmed

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

2 teaspoons ground black pepper (or 1 teaspoon for less “zip”)

1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 large apples, cored and quartered

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a large ovenproof Dutch oven with vegetable oil and place on the stove on high heat.

When a droplet of water sizzles in the oil, add the pork roast. Cook, turning, until all sides are browned, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, combine the honey, orange juice, apple juice concentrate, pepper and brown sugar. Spoon over the pork roast in the Dutch oven. Place the sweet potatoes around the pork.

Cover and bake until the pork registers 150°F on a thermometer, or 20 minutes per pound: about an hour and 20 minutes for a 4 pound roast.

About 20 minutes before it’s done, place the apple quarters around the pork. Bake, uncovered, basting frequently, until the apples are just tender.

Let the pork stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve pork roast in slices with the sweet potatoes and apples.

Wine Pairing Suggestions:

Eagle Creek White Riesling

Wedge Mountain Winery Dry Lemberger

Sweet Potato Enchiladas

I consider myself a concoctionist. When I'm hungry, I open the fridge, pull out whatever looks appetizing, and concoct something to eat out of it. At one point I was working at a company in Bellevue, and every day one of the girls in my group would ask me what strange-looking thing was in my Tupperware for lunch that day. My answer was usually something like, "Morgan's Concoction #473...mashed squash with golden raisins, spinach, red peppers and cheese."
The problem with being a concoctionist is that you can rarely reproduce your concoctions, because you're just throwing stuff in a pot, stirring it up, and adjusting spices and seasonings to make it edible. Even if I usually manage to make something delicious, it doesn't mean I could make it again.
My first repeated concoction was for Sweet Potato Enchiladas. I got the idea after my friend Tara made acorn squash burritos for a road trip we were going on, and it got me thinking about what else you could use for filling in a tortilla. I love sweet potatoes, so I started playing around with the idea, and eventually figured out something I liked and made so much I actually remembered it and wrote it down.
Now I bring it to most potlucks I'm invited to, and it's usually a huge success.
Like any great concoction, this recipe is not set in stone: add more of your favorite vegetables, or chicken, or use fruit juice and leave out the cheese to make it vegan. It's also really good if slather sour cream on the tortillas before you fill them. However, if you make it as-is, it's pretty healthy, low calorie, high in vitamins, and vegetarian. Enjoy!

Morgan's Sweet Potato Enchiladas

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red chili flakes
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 red peppers, diced
1 white onion, diced
5-7 pickled jalapeño wheels, diced (optional)
1/4 cup golden raisins
4-6 large sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and diced
1-2 cups fruit juice or chicken broth

10-20 tortillas, depending on their size

2 12 oz. jar of salsa, fruit salsa recommended (mango or peach)

2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded

Cilantro

Pour olive oil into a large pot, crock pot or rice cooker and turn on medium/high heat. Add garlic, salt, pepper and red chili flakes. Let cook until the garlic starts to brown and add cinnamon.

Add the peppers, onion, jalapeño and raisins and stir until coated with the oil and spices. Let the mixture cook with the lid off until the onions have begun to turn clear and the red peppers are softened. It’s ok if some of them start to brown. Slowly add in the diced sweet potatoes, mixing them into the peppers and onion mixture until they’re lightly coated.

Once the sweet potatoes have started to brown, add 1-1/2 cups fruit juice (peach, orange, pineapple, apple, etc.), water or chicken broth (depending on how sweet you want it), cover and cook on medium heat until the sweet potatoes are softened enough to mash, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep the mix from burning on the bottom. If it starts to burn, add more fruit juice or water.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9”x13” baking dish. Heat a griddle or large fry pan over medium heat (no oil needed) and use it to heat the tortillas for about 30 seconds a side, turning once. After each tortilla is lightly browned or starts to puff up (or, if using corn tortillas, if the edges start to curl) fill it with the sweet potato mixture, fold it into a roll and place it in the baking dish, fold side down.

Once you have filled the pan, cover the enchiladas with salsa. Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese and salsa start to bubble. Broil for an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble and brown. (Watch it so it doesn’t burn!)

This recipe makes two full pans of enchiladas. If you don’t anticipate eating all of them at once, place the enchiladas in the pan, top them with salsa and cheese and freeze for later use. You will need to bake them for at least 45 minutes if they’re frozen.