Sweet Potato Latkes

I made these for Chanukah dinner, but I'm only getting around to posting them now.  We're having staffing issues at work, and I'm very glad it's the slow season.  Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to keep up.

There are a lot of firsts for me with this recipe.  I've never used sweet potatoes or puréed vegetable in a latke, and I've never baked them before.  With everything going on for an admittedly excessive meal, I found this to be the easiest way to make them.

I got out a bag of pre-steamed sweet potatoes from the freezer, leftovers from the canning session.  It was 2 pounds, so a double recipe of what I'm posting for four servings.  In a surprise twist, the skins were super easy to remove after defrosting, almost as easy as tomatoes.  I was thrilled.  You don't have to go through all that.  You can absolutely open one of the large cans if you don't have the wherewithal to do this from raw potatoes.

*1 lb sweet potatoes or one 30 oz can, drained
1/2 small onion, diced, about 1 C
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tb flour (matzoh cake meal or potato starch for Passover)
oil for frying

1.  Scrub potatoes well.  Place in a large pot in a steamer basket or sieve over 1" of water.  Cover, bring to a low boil, and cook until thoroughly tender, at least 30 minutes depending on size.

2.  Once cool, peel potatoes.  Either with a masher or food processor, break down into a chunky purée.  Stir together with diced onion, cinnamon, salt, egg, and flour.  Allow to sit 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375º.

3.  Smear a rimmed baking sheet with about 2-3 Tb of neutral oil.  You can use olive oil if you want, since this isn't deep frying and the oven won't overheat it.

4.  Spoon or scoop potato batter onto the baking sheet.  I used the 3 Tb cookie scoop and liked the size.  1/4 C would also bake well.  I wouldn't go larger, since they are soft when you flip them later.

5.  Bake until the undersides are crisp and easy to scrape off the pan with a pancake turner, about 20 minutes.  Flip and cook other side until done, 15-20 minutes more.  They're sweet enough that I wouldn't serve them with applesauce, but you could have sour cream with them if you choose.

Makes 8-10

Difficulty rating  :)

Red Lentil and Parsley Salad

I didn't intend to put two lentil recipes in a row.  This was actually for the couple of days before Chanukah, when I knew I would be eating a lot and wanted something lighter in advance.  Being only two days, I'm doubling what I actually made for this post.

Yes, more roasted radishes.  I want to clear the pot they're in and grow beets and turnips.  The few beets I have were being suppressed by the giant radishes.  I also pulled the last giant green onion from the last round.  The new ones won't be ready for at least a month, but I haven't been using them much lately, which is why they got so big.  Or I could sub green onion pesto.  There's still over a quart of that.

While I made up this recipe, it is influenced by the recent adventures in North African cooking.  Most of the ingredients are Mediterranean, inexpensive, and easy to find.  Most people are on a diet and/or trying to save money in January.  This is a good way to do that and enjoy a very good salad.

*1 C red lentils
*1 bunch radishes
1/4 C olive oil
*2 Tb white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
*1/2 tsp fennel seed (anise), crushed
*1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped and large stems removed
*2 green onions, thinly sliced

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Cut leaves and root from radishes, and cut larger ones in half.  Toss with a little of the oil and roast until tender, about half an hour.  Set aside.

2.  Sort and rinse lentils.  Place in a saucepan with water to cover and bring to a low boil.  Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain well.

3.  In a bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, salt, garlic, and crushed fennel.  Add the parsley and onion and toss to coat.  Add the radishes and lentils once slightly cooled and toss until evenly distributed and coated with dressing.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Difficulty rating  π

Addis

Yet another Moroccan vegan adventure.  I'm running out of bean varieties, so this may be the last recipe of its kind for a while.

Many of the recipes I found called addis are Lebanese.  There are small differences in the spices and method, as well as how much sauce you end up with.  I didn't want a soup, which is what most of the Lebanese addis recipes are.  Here, I'm largely adapting an Instant Pot version for stovetop.  Surprisingly, the cook time is about the same.  You don't get the completely mushy texture that pressure cooking does to beans, which may be a plus if that's what you want.

I'm going off recipe a little, but not much.  I was surprised that paprika is not a common spice in addis.  Instead of adding black pepper and a hot pepper or flakes, I used chili powder for a hint of roasted flavor.  I also cut back slightly on the quantity of spices because, dang, that's a lot of cumin.

1 C brown lentils
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C diced onion
1 Tb cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
pinch saffron (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb tomatoes, grated
1 C water

1.  Sort and rinse lentils.  Soak 6-12 hours, or overnight.  I did not expect half of them to start sprouting.  Maybe I should look into growing lentils, but with my small space I doubt it would be worth the effort.  Drain when ready to begin cooking.

2.  Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add onion and cook until softened.  That's a lot of oil, so try not to fry the onion.  Add in spices, salt, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

3.  Stir in tomatoes, lentils, and water.  Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover.  Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  That should be enough time to wash the unfortunate number of dishes.  It's grating the tomatoes that bumped up the difficulty level of this dish.  If lentils are not tender yet, continue to cook in 5 minute increments.

4.  Add water to desired consistency.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)

Gingerbread Loaf

I know, it's past the holidays, but it's still winter.  And as long as the conspiracy to not sell glacé fruits so people can't bake fruitcake persists, I will come up with alternatives.

I made only tiny changes to I Am Baker's recipe.  First, I cut it in half and made it in two mini loaf pans, after deciding not to use the 6" round cake pan.  I felt like slicing it, rather than cutting wedges.  You can also use it to make muffins.  It's a quick bread/muffin recipe.  Next, I opted for low-fat plain yogurt instead of buying sour cream.  I already had the yogurt.  And I added some crystallized ginger that was supposed to go into fruitcake or stollen, decreasing the brown sugar in the recipe a tiny bit to compensate by not packing it.

I made this on a somewhat cold day, so it took longer for the refrigerated ingredients to come up to "room temperature" than to make it after that.  With a low-moisture recipe, you definitely want to start with everything the same temperature.  Otherwise, the batter will break.  I'm not sure if it was the butter or yogurt that stayed a little lumpy, but it did melt in the oven.

1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C + 2 Tb light brown sugar, lightly packed
*1/4 C + 2 Tb molasses
1 egg, room temp
*1/2 C sour cream or yogurt, room temp
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 Tablespoon ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
*1/4 C chopped crystallized ginger, optional

1.  Prepare one 6" cake pan, 2 mini loaf pans, or about 8 muffin cups with pan spray.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  Cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Add molasses, egg, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3.  Separately, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Toss crystallized ginger in 1 Tb of the flour mixture and set aside.

4.  Once the liquid ingredients are smooth, add the flour and stir until just combined.  Add ginger pieces and the reserved flour and stir again to distribute.  Do not overmix.

5.  Portion batter into pan or muffin cups.  Bake 20 minutes for muffins, 30 for loaves.  Start checking with a toothpick at that time.  Center should not be wet.  Wait about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool thoroughly.

6.  If desired, dust cooled loaf with powdered sguar or drizzle with a glaze.  Keeps room temperature 2 days, in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for at least a month.

Serves about 6

Difficulty rating  π

Grape Leaf-Wrapped Lemon Cod

I hate coming up with names for recipes I invent.  But, well, that's what this is.

I'm trying to tidy up the chest freezer by eating things that were a good idea when I bought them.  I picked up the cod on sale at a time I was feeling guilty about not eating enough fish.  Freezer-pack fish portions take up much more space than they have the right to, so they went on the list.  I still have that jar of grape leaves in the fridge to deal with, and several lemons on the tree past ripe.  That and a few herbs and seasonings made an easy dinner.

I'm going to stop buying frozen fish.  They're all water.  I forgot that until I took off the foil and they were drowning in way more juice than I expected.  I wouldn't have covered them at all if I had realized that.  It was a disappointment with the scallops, and equally so here.

*4 portions cod fillets
1 Tb olive oil
*12-ish grape leaves
*1 lemon, thinly sliced
salt and white pepper
dried dill and tarragon

1.  Gently grease a roasting pan with the olive oil.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Rinse the grape leaves well and trim off any stems.

2.  Lay out two grape leaves on a work surface.  Lay a portion in the middle.  Sprinkle with salt, white pepper, dill, and tarragon.  Top with a couple of lemon slices.  Place another leaf on top and fold into a package.

3.  Transfer portions to the baking dish.  Cover with foil and bake until 155º, about half an hour.  Mine took quite a bit longer because they were still pretty much frozen, even after a day and a half in the fridge.  Another reason to transition to fresh fish.  Remove foil and bake another five minutes to crisp up the leaves a bit.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  π

Pasta Salad with Roasted Radishes

I was thinking of making a side dish salad, then noticed that the radishes in my garden were getting exceedingly large.  It was time to roast them up and get creative.

Radishes are almost always sold with the leaves attached.  They are absolutely edible.  They taste kind of like a peppery spinach.  And you paid for them, so you might as well get the benefit.

I really need to stop leaving plants in the garden too long.  Yes, I was waiting for the radishes to get big enough to roast, but one was stupid huge.  I have one green onion that has overstayed its welcome, too.  I'll have to figure out a recipe for that.

*1 bunch radishes with leaves
1 C pearl (Israeli) couscous
*1/4 C sun dried tomatoes
1/4 C olive oil
2 Tb vinegar of choice (I used balsamic)
*1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Cut greens off of radishes and save, trim off any extending taproot, and cut in half into bite-sized pieces.  Toss in a bit of olive oil just to coat and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet or in a roasting dish.  Bake until lightly browned and softened, about 30 minutes.

2.  Start boiling a medium to large pot with 2 C of water while the radishes are roasting.  You can multitask by whisking up the dressing of the rest of the oil, the vinegar, thyme, and salt and pepper.  I also soaked the tomatoes in it.

3.  Cook couscous according to package directions.  Cut the radish leaves off the tough stems and roughly chop.  Add to the pasta in the last two minutes of cooking so they can wilt.

4.  Drain pasta and greens and return to the pot.  Stir in radishes, tomatoes, and dressing and toss until everything is evenly coated.  Can be served anywhere from chilled to hot.  I preferred slightly warmer than room temperature.

Difficulty rating  :)

Chrismukkah 2024

It is so rare to have Chanukah start on Christmas Day, but it was convenient not to have to ask for the day off.  My decorations were very confusing, having both out at the same time.  I gave up and left them that way.

I have been planning for months to have brisket, and it has been in the freezer since there was a good sale.  It was the new 7 quart Crockpot's first project.

The pie wasn't on the original menu.  My host at Thanksgiving dropped the pie face-down, so this was a do-over.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to hold that grudge for several years.  It's a lot of work.

With the cost of everything going up, I went easy on guests who wanted to bring something and asked for the salad and vegetables.  Huge sticker shock when the cost of eggs doubled overnight and I needed nearly a dozen for the menu I had planned.  Ended up making peppermint fudge as my chocolate dessert instead of the Torta Caprese, which cut out a few eggs.

I did set out hors d'oeuvres, which I rarely do.  I've been snacky lately.  Baked up store brand spanakopitas and set out a cheese platter and shrimp half-ring.  The advantage of making too much food is having leftovers for a few days.

Hors d'oeuvres
Green salad
Cranberry Brisket
Sweet Potato Latkes
Herbed Star Bread
Roasted broccoli and carrots
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Peppermint Fudge

Bissara

This one is Egyptian, not Moroccan, but came from the same general search.  I wanted something to do with split peas other than American split pea soup.

Bissara is commonly made with fava beans, which I have never had because they're kind of hard to find.  At some point, I will get some and experiment.  Next time I'm at a Middle Eastern market.  I have at least three recipes for them to try, so it isn't like I've never thought about it.  Today, however, I was specifically looking for a split-pea recipe, and the first three versions I read used split peas.

I wanted to make this more like a stew and left it chunky, but you can also purée it into a soup.  The profile is peas and garlic, with paprika and cumin as the main seasonings and parsley to freshen it up.  I was surprised there isn't onion in the recipe, but here we are.

I wasn't going to have an hour to make dinner that afternoon and did this all day in the small Crockpot on low.  You could run it for a few hours on high, or just simmer on the stove until tender, like I'm writing the recipe here.

3 Tb olive oil
*4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 C water or vegetable broth
*1-1/2 C dry split peas or soaked fava beans
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
salt & pepper to taste

1.  Heat the oil over medium in a saucepan and fry the garlic until lightly browned.

2.  If using a slow cooker, transfer the garlic and oil to it and use the oil to coat the inside of the crock.  For any method, add all ingredients and stir together.

3.  For stovetop, bring to a low boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until peas are done, about an hour.  For slow cooker, cook on low 8 hours or high 3 hours.

4.  Bissara can be served chunky, or you can run it into a soup and thin to desired consistency.  Serve with crusty bread and a drizzle of olive oil, with spices dusted on top and a dollop of plain yogurt if you want something creamy.  Can also be made thick enough to be a dip.

Difficulty rating  π

Colombian-Style Tamales

This is the real reason I was looking for masarepa.  Learning how to make arepas was a happy accident.  My Colombian Recipes has an excellent post that breaks the daunting task of tamales down into easy segments.

These aren't 100% Colombian the way I'm making them.  I'm using leftover grape leaves instead of banana leaves, which I've been trying to find off and on for years.  The advantage to that is they're edible wrappers.  I'm using canned shredded pork instead of making it from scratch with several cuts of meat, and just adding the marinade to the unseasoned shreds.  And I'm creating my own marinade instead of using the traditional one, which contains too many ingredients I can't eat.  Heads up on the Goya, it contains MSG.  I get weird headaches off the stuff that make it feel like my brain is imploding for a couple of minutes, so I mixed my own.

Oh yeah, and cutting it down from a whole party to my traditional four servings.  The recipe post has one of those cool slider widgets that does all the calculations for you.  The math on 1/3 shouldn't be as hard as it sometimes is.  It was the 5 cups of water that made me look for an easy out.

Marinade

*1/3 onion, roughly chopped
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 each green and red bell peppers (which I skipped)
*1 green onion
1 Tb cumin (not a typo)
1 Tb sazon Goya: or a mix of paprika, ground coriander, granulated garlic, cumin, and turmeric for color
salt to taste
2/3 C water

1.  Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Run until basically smooth.

2.  Place meat in a plastic baggie or glass dish, as the turmeric will stain plastic.  If starting with raw meat, cut into cubes so the marinade can permeate evenly.  Pour in marinade, reserving 2 Tb to flavor the masa later.  Since I was using pre-cooked meat, I poured it all in the bag.

3.  Refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight.

Filling

*1 lb raw pork shoulder or 2 C cooked and shredded
*1 small potato, peeled and cut in chunks, about half a can
*1/3 C carrots, peeled and sliced or large dice, frozen or canned ok
*1/3 C peas, fresh or frozen
banana leaves for wrapping, or a steamable alternative.  It won't taste the same.

1.  If cooking the meat, either roast or simmer pre-marinated pork until fork-tender, probably 2 hours.  Cook potatoes and carrots until about halfway done if using fresh.  Peas can go in straight from frozen.

2.  Have all filling ingredients ready when you start to prepare the masa.

Masa

1 C + 2 Tb masarepa
1-2/3 C warm water
salt to taste
2 Tb marinade
2 tsp Goya seasoning

1.  Stir salt, marinade, and seasoning into warm water.  Traditionally, you use your hands at this part to achieve an even batter.

2.  Gradually sprinkle in masarepa, stirring constantly, until you get a polenta-like texture.  Because that's basically what this is.  That last 2 tablespoons of masarepa will actually make a difference.  Let sit about 5 minutes to thicken.  Fill the tamales while the masa is still warm.

Assembly

1.  Set up a stockpot with a steamer or some kind of tray at the bottom.  Add one or two inches of water, whatever the basket can clear, and start warming it.

2.  Lay out two strips of cleaned banana leaves, overlapping in a cross pattern.  Or, in my case, two grape leaves with plenty on the side ready to go.

3.  At this point, how much you fill them is up to you.  The original recipe says 3/4 C of masa to start with, and I've seen some with entire chicken legs nestled between the pork.  I made mine small enough to total eight, or two per serving.  Also, because that was pushing the limits of the grape leaves.

4.  Once you spread the masa, arrange the meat, potato, carrot, and peas.  For a more pickle-y flavor, you can add capers or sliced green olives.  I don't like either and skipped them.

5.  Fold up the leaves to encase the filling.  Use kitchen twine to tie the tamales shut.  I haven't trussed anything in a while, and probably should have practiced first.  It would be easier with banana leaves.  I have also seen it done with parchment-lined foil.  Anything that won't disintegrate when steamed.

6.  Carefully arrange the tamales in the steamer.  Turn up the heat to a boil and steam them for 90 minutes.  Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, to firm up, before cutting the string and unwrapping.

Difficulty rating  :-0

Loubia

Moroccan rabbit hole continues.  I needed a protein for a vegetable sheet pan dinner, so here we go with a seasoned bean stew.  I tossed the veggies with yet more of the green onion pesto, which ended up making a nice contrast to the light tomato sauce in the beans.

I'm changing a couple of things from many of the recipes I found, yet surprisingly keeping the grated tomato.  I don't do it often, but it's a neat trick to get around dirtying an appliance or peeling them.  Mainly, I'm not using three cans of beans for four servings.  They're kidding, right?  Let's just ignore what that would do to the digestive system.  A 15 oz can is commonly regarded as 3.5 servings in the U.S.  I'm having a side dish and bread with this, so I am perfectly happy with that estimation.

After some consideration, I decided to open a can of cannellini beans instead of making them from dry.  If this had been a day off, I would have done it the long way.  I bet you could also do this in a slow cooker or low oven, but since I wouldn't be home to check the water levels, I went for the 45 minute version.  I got the pot going, then chopped the veggies for roasting and started that, and everything finished at roughly the same time.

2 Tb olive oil
*1 small onion, finely diced or grated
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
*1 Tb tomato paste
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric or saffron
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Roma tomatoes (about 1/2 lb), grated
*1 can cannellini or white beans, drained, or 2/3 C dry beans, soaked and cooked
*1/4 C cilantro, chopped
1/4 C parsley, chopped

I rarely do a full mise en place, but there was a lot going on here

1.  If making the beans from dry, soak for 8-12 hours, drain, refill pot, simmer for 2 hours, drain.  Otherwise, start at step 2.

2.  Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook onion until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.  Add spices, garlic, and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, 3 minutes.  This is where I'm deviating from all traditional recipes.  They all add the tomato paste at the end.  I'm using the Indian trick of cooking it with the spices to caramelize it.  If you want to be more authentic, add it later with the herbs.

3.  Add the beans and tomatoes to the pot.  If very dry, add water or vegetable broth until you can see it below the beans.  This isn't soup, so you don't have to cover them with liquid, but there should be a generous amount of sauce.  The light over my stove tends to make things look yellow, but this is pretty close to the actual color.  I'm assuming it was from the turmeric.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.  If you want to add anything spicy like chili flakes or whole hot peppers, now is the time.  Or, you could serve this with harissa on the side and let everyone decide how hot they want it.

4.  Stir in cilantro and parsley, re-cover, and simmer another 10 minutes.  Serve hot in bowls, with more herbs for garnish.

Difficulty rating  :)