chipotle sweet potato and pecan gratin

It still has the little marshmallows, but it spices up the table.

3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
olive oil
salt and pepper

Toss the sweet potatoes in the oil, salt, and pepper and spread on a baking sheet. Put in a 375 oven for about twenty minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups pecans
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the pecans, sugar, and chipotle powder. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar starts to caramelize and the pecans are coated. Spread and cool on a parchment lined baking sheet.

1/8 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Put the sweet potatoes, one third of the pecans, and the spices in the food processor and pulse until you have a chunky mix. Scrape into a 9x9 baking dish and cover with marshmallows. Cook about 25 minutes, until the marshmallows are golden. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans and serve.

Peace,
Milton

brown sugar buttermilk pie

I was intrigued by this recipe because they used brown sugar.

1 refrigerated pie crust

Heat oven to 400. Bake the crust about 12 minutes, until golden. Transfer to rack and cool.

1 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons all purpose flour

Mix sugar and flour in a food processor, then add

3 large eggs plus one large yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla

until well blended; then add

1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons melted butter

and blend again. Pour mixture into cooled crust and bake about 45 minutes, until it puffs and is almost set in the center. Cool on a rack and then chill until cold before serving.

Peace,
Milton

sweet potato pie

I made a couple of these today to share with co-workers.

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 egg white, beaten

Paint the crust with the egg white before you fill it with the sweet potato mixture. This keeps the crust from being soggy.

Preheat oven t0 400.

1 15oz can candied yams
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix everything together in a food processor until smooth. Pour into pie crust and bake for 45 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Peace,
Milton

pumpkin pie

Smitten Kitchen has become my favorite food blog. Her pumpkin pie is amazing. You can get the whole deal, crust and all, here, but I opted for a refrigerated crust, so I'm just passing along my version of the pie part.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Put pie crust in the oven for about 10 minutes. (I covered mine with a piece of foil and weighted it with pocket change.)

2 cups half and half
3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together in medium bowl. Set aside.

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground because I’m not a huge fan of fresh ginger)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon table salt

Combine these ingredients and bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream mixture until fully incorporated. (I then used my hand mixer to make sure the mixture was as smooth as possible.) Transfer to pre-baked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Continue baking until edges are set, 20 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours. (The pie finishes cooking with resident heat; to ensure the filling sets, cool it at room temperature and not in the refrigerator.)

This is worth saving room for dessert.

Peace,
Milton

cornbread waffles

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but in this case,my mother was actually the mother of invention. For a while now I have been trying to figure out how to add my open faced chicken pot pie to my restaurant menu. The problem, for me, was putting the mixture on a biscuit, because biscuits are hard to make ahead, or to make in small batches. When I went to Texas for my college homecoming, my mother and I were talking about food and she said, "I've been doing something fun. I started making cornbread waffles."

And a new dish was born.

I played around with a couple of cornbread recipes and ended up with this version, which has corn kernels in it and is more savory, since it is going with the pot pie mixture. Just because I like to say the words together, we call it "Chicken and Waffles."

Here is the waffle recipe. The chicken mixture can be found here.

1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl mix together

1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup melted butter

Add to dry mixture and then add

1 1/2 cups corn

Stir just until the ingredients are mixed together. Spoon into waffle iron.

Makes four to five double waffles in my waffle iron.

Peace,
Milton