Bear Cuisine

Sweet Potato Tacos

SWEET POTATO TACOS

These tacos were made by cooking sweet potatoes sous vide and they were absolutely delicious. The recipe comes from Lisa Q. Fetterman's Sous-Vide at Home.

SWEET POTATO TACOS

2 sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds) peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 4 cups)

3 to 4 chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded and chopped

11/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)

3 tablespoons minced red onion

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup crumbed Cotija cheese or queso fresco

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

4 to 6 lime wedges for serving

 

Preheat your sous vide water bath to 185 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together the sweet potatoes, chiles, cumin, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the oil until the sweet potato pieces are evenly coated with all of the ingredients.

To ensure that your bag sinks, place 1 to 2 pounds of weight into a gallon-size freezer-safe ziplock bag. Add the sweet potato mixture to the bag and seal.

When the water has reached the target temperature, lower the bagged sweet potatoes into the water bath and cook for one hour. The sweet potatoes are ready if you can crush the pieces through the bag with a firm pinch.

Remove the bag from the water bath and transfer the sweet potatoes to a plate, discarding the liquid. Set aside.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, working in batches, heat the tortillas by placing them directly into the skillet and then waiting until they begin to steam and blister, about 20 seconds. Flip them with tongs or a spatula and cook the other side until they again begin to steam and blister, about 30 seconds. Depending on the size of your skillet, you can heat 3 or 4 tortillas at a time. After each batch is heated, transfer the tortillas to a plate and cover them with a kitchen towel or aluminum foil to keep warm.

When all the tortillas have been heated and with the pan still over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and then add the sweet potato mixture. Saute over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until charred and blackened on the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and then add the lime juice.

To assemble the tacos, spread a small dollop of the sour cream onto the middle of each tortilla. Divide the sweet potato mixture evenly among the tortillas. Top each taco with a sprinkle of cheese, cilantro and red onion. Serve with the lime wedges.

 

Spicy Orange Fennel Slaw

Sometimes in the winter, salads don't get the attention they should. This slaw from Nina Simond's Simple Asian Meals, is easy to prepare and makes a light and vibrant accompaniment to many meals. She suggest serving it with salmon and it is a great pairing. The salad lightens the richness of the salmon.

Nina Simond's Spicy Orange Fennel Slaw

 

SPICY ORANGE FENNEL SLAW

2 fennel bulbs (about 1 1/2 pounds)

3 large seedless oranges

 

Spicy Orange Dressing

1. 2 teaspoons grated orange zest.
2. 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
3. 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
5. 1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
6. 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
7. 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
8. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
9. 1 teaspoon ground coriander
10. 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
11. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

Trim the root end of the fennel bulbs and cut away the stalks an discard, reserving the fronds. Cut the fennel bulbs in half. Cut out the core and discard; cut the bulbs into very thin slices. Coarsely chop the fennel fronds and set aside.

Grate the zest and squeeze the juice of 1 orange; set aside. Peel the remaining 2 oranges and cut away the white pulp. Separate the orange sections and cut each section crosswise in half. Mix the fennel and orange sections with the coarsely chopped fennel fronds in a serving bowl.

Taste the dressing for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Pour the dressing over the fennel and orange sections and toss lightly to coat. Cover and let sit or refrigerate to chill slightly.

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Another Winner

It must be some sort of obsession. I keep trying different Mac 'n Cheese recipes. This one from David Rosengarten is beautifully creamy and nicely flavored. The paprika and mustard give it just enough bite. Unctuous creaminess with a bit of spice heat. Perfect and most comforting on a cold winter's evening.

David Rosengarten's Macaroni and Cheese

MACARONI AND CHEESE

1. 6 TBS butter (3/4 stick) butter
2. 2 TBS dried breadcrumbs
3. 2 TBS grated Parmesan Cheese
4. 1 TBS chopped parsley
5. 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
6. 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
7. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8. 2 teaspoons dried mustard
9. 1 teaspoon salt
10. 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
11. 2 1/4 cups milk
12. 1 garlic clove, peeled
13. 1/2 cup creme fraiche*
14. 8 ounces grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese
15. 4 ounces grated mild cheddar cheese
16. 8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked al dente, drained and rinsed with cold water**

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon of the paprika; toss with the melted butter. Set aside.

In another saucepan, melt remaining 4 TBS of butter. Whisk in flour, mustard, salt, nutmeg, remaining 1 teaspoon of paprika and freshly ground pepper to taste, until mixture is smooth. Cook over low heat for 1 or 2 minutes or until the mixture smells 'toasty.' Add milk, whisking until smooth. Add garlic clove, return to a simmer and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in creme fraiche. Reserving 1/2 cup of each cheese for topping, stir the rest of the cheese into the sauce until melted. Remove and discard the garlic clove.

Place cooked macaroni in a baking dish, add cheese sauce, stirring to coat all the macaroni with the sauce. sprinkle with half the bread crumb mixture, then remaining cheese, then remaining bread crumbs Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

*I used sour cream (much less expensive) which provided the creaminess and,perhaps,more tang.

** Penne made a good substitute for elbow macaroni.

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Another Pesto

Whenever I buy vegetables with their tops attached, such as radishes, beets or turnips,I am a bit mystified by what to do with those leafy greens. Sometimes I saute them and serve them with whatever else is on the menu, but that doesn't seem quite the right solution in Spring. With this batch of beautiful ,leafy tops I decided that I would make pesto. I adapted Martha Phelps Stamps' recipe for Spring Pesto from Martha's at the Plantation as the basis for this and I have to say that the result is extremely tasty.

Mixed radish, Daikon radish, and Japanese turnip greens

Another Spring Pesto

1. 3-4 cups of leafy greens from vegetables
2. 3/4 cup feta cheese
3. 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
4. 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
5. 2 TBS capers
6. Juice and zest of 1 lemon
7. Pepper flakes to taste
8. 1 cup of olive oil

 Place the mixed greens in the bowl of a food processor.

Add the remaining ingredients and process to a roughly textured paste.

Store covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Mix thoroughly before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast,Lunch or Dinner

I first read about Shakshuka in a New York Times' article by Melissa Clark in 2013. I remember thinking at the time that it sounded like a great dish for an easy weeknight supper, although in Israel it is most often served at breakfast. Several years later, Yotam Ottolenghi published a recipe in his wonderful ode to vegetarian cooking, Plenty. Finally, I was sufficiently motivated to try the dish. What had I been waiting for? It has beautiful smoky, slightly spicy notes in the vegetable base; eggs never had it so good.

Shakshuka

 

I used Ottolenghi's recipe as the base, but made some changes as I went along.The recipe is originally designed to serve 4 people, but it can be easily reduced to by half.

SHAKSHUKA

(serves 4)

1. 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2. 3/4 cup olive oil
3. 2 large onions, sliced
4. 2 red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch strips
5. 2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch strips
6. 4 teaspoons brown sugar
7. 2 bay leaves
8. 6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
9. 2 TBS. chopped parsley
10. 2 TBS chopped cilantro
11. 6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
12. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
13. pinch of Aleppo pepper
14. salt and black pepper
15. up to 1 1/8 cups of water
16. Feta cheese
17. 8 eggs

In a very large pan dry-roast the cumin seeds on high heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil and onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, sugar and herbs and continue cooking on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes to get a nice color.

Add the tomatoes, turmeric, Aleppo pepper and some salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. during the cooking keep adding water so that the mix has a pasta sauce consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (You can make this mixture in advance.)

Remove the bay leaves and make gaps in the pepper mix and carefully break an egg into each gap. If you like Feta cheese, you can crumble some over the pepper mixture at this point.Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover the pan with a lid. Cook on a very gentle heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the eggs are just set. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Absolutely delicious!