Sensuous Sweet Potato & Squash Soup

The other night it actually got cold. The temp dipped down into the 40’s before 10pm and put me in a cozy kind of mood. See, here in North Carolina fall teases us. October can offer an 80 degree day while the next is in the 50’s. It’s a wacky area of the country, climate wise that is, so when we actually get some real autumn weather I head for the stove, get a pot out and make soup.

I looked in my produce bowl and saw I had one sweet potato and one small winter squash and wondered if this would make enough for two. I scrounged around the produce drawer in the fridge and spotted a little clementine. “Orange soup it is!” I thought, and as it turned out, it was the perfect compliment to a bottle of Spanish wine we had just purchased from our friend Craig at

Warming, luscious and topped with a bit of buttered & candied hazelnuts and crispy sage leaves, it completely said ‘Fall’ to me.

It’s a beta carotene Party!

Saute all the veggies in a bit of olive oil until slightly browned.

Add veggie broth.

Fall spices I love…

After you add the spics to the pot add some water so that all the veggies are covered. Simmer on low heat until softened, about 15 minutes.

While the soup is simmering I melted a few dabs of butter and heated some hazelnuts in a sauce pan.

Then I added a bit of brown sugar to coat the nuts.

I added a touch of balsamic vinegar as well.

I also crisp fried a few sprigs of sage from the garden. I have to say, one thing I LOVE is crispy sage leaves.

Back at the soup pot, I added the juice of one clementine.

Then I pureed the soup until smooth. I also LOVE my stick mixer.

I then added a bit of half and half. You could use soy creamer as well. I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and plated it up with the wine.

Although the days are getting shorter and winter is close to follow; soups like this make an evening’s dinner cozy and warm.

Rice with Sweet Pork

Today sweet pork or in Vietnamese words: thit heo kho kho

Ingredients: rice, 3 spring onions, 700 grams streaky bacon, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons sugar, 750 ml water, 2 tablespoons fish sauce

Boil the rice according pack instructions Bake in hot oil 3 chopped spring onions to soft. Add 700 grams diced streaky bacon and add salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir until the meat is no longer pink. Pour about 750 ml water and bring it briefly to the boil. Then lower the heat and let it simmer for about an hour. The water should almost be dry. Add to last 2 tablespoons fish sauce and heat for 10 more minutes. Serve the sweet pork with rice and snow peas, for example. Enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Marrowfat Peas

Ingredients: 1 onion, 1 teaspoon chilli jam, curry, 1 jar marrowfat peas, 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce, 3 gherkins, silver onions,

Cook 1 finely chopped onion with 1 teaspoon chilli jam and curry to taste. If the onion is soft, add 1 jar marrowfat peas with 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce. Lower the heat and add 3 sliced gherkins and silver onions and let it all simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve with rice or baked potatoes. Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin Sweet & Sour and Rice

Ingredients: rice, 1 pork tenderloin, 1 onion, 1 yellow pepper, ginger powder, 200 ml vegetable stock, 100 ml red wine vinegar, 4 tablespoons honey, 3 spring onions,

Number of persons: 3

Boil the rice according pack instrictions or the way you normally do. Bake in hot oil 1 diced pork tenderloin brown. Add 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped yellow pepper and ginger powder to taste. Stir fry about 5 minutes. Add 200 ml vegetable stock, 100 ml red wine vinegar and 4 tablespoons of honey. Bring to the boil briefly and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Add 1 minute before the end 3 sliced spring onions. Serve with rice. Enjoy!

Noodles with Sweet and Sour Vegetables

Ingredients: 400 grams beans, noodles, 1/2 jar sour & hot pickled vegetables, 4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce, 1 spring onion,

Number of persons: 2

Boil the green beans al dente in boiling water with a littlesalt. Boil the noodles according pack instructions. Pour the beans and stir fry together with 1/2 jar sour & hot pickled vegetables, 4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce and 1 sliced spring onion until it is hot. Enjoy!

Pork Scallops in Creamy Sweet Chilli Sauce

Ingredients: rice, 1 onion, paprika, 2 pork scallops, 200 grams mushrooms, 3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce, 100 ml cream, chives,

Number of persons: 2

Boil the rice according to the instructions on the package. Bake in hot oil 1 shredded onion with paprika to taste until the onion is glassy. Add 2 pork scallops cut in slices and stir fry until the pork scallops are brown. Then add 200 grams sliced mushrooms and stir fry until the mushrooms have softened. Add 3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce, 100 ml cream and chives to taste and heat well. Serve with rice. Enjoy!

Noodles with Broccoli, Cashews and Sweet Chilli Sauce

Ingredients: broccoli, noodles, 200 grams diced ham, 1 onion, 200 gram mushrooms, 100 ml sweet chilli sauce, 100 gram cashew nuts,

Number of persons: 3

Boil 1 broccoli cut in florets al dente in boiling water with salt. Prepare the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Bake in hot oil 200 grams diced ham and 1 chopped onion until the onion has softened. Add 200 grams of mushrooms and stir until the mushrooms have softened. Add the broccoli florets and 100 ml sweet chilli sauce. Heat well. Add as last 100 grams cashewnuts. Serve with noodles.

Sweet Potato & Avocado Sandwiches

I know you’re thinking, sweet potato and avocado? What? But yes, they do go together and quite well I might add! We have typically made these regularly between two slices of nice crusty wheat bread, but tonight we’d though we’d break out the panini maker. The result? Just as delicious! (You know when you get a new toy and it becomes your new favorite thing for the next day/week/month? That’s the panini maker. Makes a darn good sandwich!)

Sweet Potato and Avocado Sandwiches

The dressing is key to these sandwiches. I’m not a mustard fan but honey mustard is a whole other story. The recipe originally called for boiled sweet potatoes; we found them bland, so we brushed them with oil and honey and oven-roasted them. Delish. Not to mention good for you too.

INGREDIENTS
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp honey mustard
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
1/4 tsp poppy seeds
4 slices whole wheat bread
4 red onion slices, cut 1/8-inch thick
1/2 avocado cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 tomato slices, cut 1/4-inch thick
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)
1/2 cup baby lettuce or herb salad mix

DIRECTIONS
Toss sweet potato slices in a few tablespoons each of olive oil and honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook slices in oven until tender, about 15 minutes, flipping slices half way through.

Whisk together honey mustard, mayonnaise, and poppy seeds in a small bowl.

To construct the sandwiches, first spread half the poppy seed mixture on 2 of the bread slices, then place half of the onion, avocado, and tomato slices on top of each slice; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Add a layer of sweet potato slices, cheese and lettuce. Top with remaining bread. Slice each sandwich in half, securing each half with a toothpick. Serve with sliced dill pickles and a handful of baked chips.

Sweet Potato & Shiitake Tofu Scramble

T: What are we cooking tonight?
L: We don’t have anything planned for dinner, and we don’t go to the store until tomorrow.
T: What do we have?
L: *inspecting the eerily empty refrigerator*
L: a sweet potato, some shiitake mushrooms, a zucchini and some tofu.
T: What a combination.
L: *does a quick google search for “tofu shiitake zucchini recipe”… Prints off the first recipe that happens to pop up (which also includes, by the way, a sweet potato).*
L: Let’s try this.
T: *very skeptical of recipes from anything but a cooking authority*
T: Ok then…

30 minutes later, we had what looked like a glorified tofu scramble. We modified the recipe a bit (this was the day before grocery day, remember). And you know what? It may have been the best thing we cooked all week. Go figure.

By the way, props to you if you can form this into patties. I think it would taste even better that way. But, after one crumbly attempt at a patty, and some very rumbly tummies, we tossed the whole bowl into the pan and cooked it like a big hash brown.

Sweet Potato & Shiitake Tofu Scramble

Makes 4 servings (or so). Recipe from here, with modifications. :)

INGREDIENTS
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 zucchini, shredded
2/3 cup green onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, grated
1 teaspoon sesame oil
5 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 carrot, grated, for garnish

For sauce:
1 cup water
2 teablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon seasame oil
3 shiitake mushrooms, diced

DIRECTIONS
Boil sweet potato cubes until fork tender. Drain well and mash, set aside.

Press and drain tofu. The more moisture you can get out of it the better. Mash in tofu with the sweet potatoes.

Heat a small non-stick skillet and add the sesame oil, zucchini, green onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until the zucchini softens, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add to tofu-sweet potato mixture.

Add mushrooms, sriracha, salt, and corn starch and mix thoroughly.

Attempt to form the mixture into patties. If you can, pan cook in a lightly oiled pan for 3-4 minutes per side, or until browned. If not, dump the entire mixture into a large pan and let sit (no stirring!) for about 5 minutes or until bottom is brown and crisp. Toss mixture with spatula and again let sit until bottom is brown. Repeat until mixture is evenly browned.

To make sauce, mix all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture boils, becomes translucent, and thickens. Drizzle over patties (or scramble mixture), garnish with grated carrot and sliced green onion

A Sweet Proposal.

After 7 years together, Taylor finally found the perfect way to do it.

The fact that he did it on April 1st didn’t occur to him until AFTER the fact. Made it a bit tricky to tell the family as everyone’s first thought was it was all a hoax (wouldn’t that have been cruel).

Taylor woke up at 5:00am this morning and started baking. Mind you I’m the one that usually does the baking – he’s watched me make gobs of cupcakes but has never actually done it himself. 12 dozen later – I think he’s got it down. And he managed to do it quietly AND clean it all up before I even stirred. Granted, they weren’t frosted – but I cut him some slack. :) We frosted them together tonight.

They were the same delicious chocolate recipe that I made him for his birthday… but for the frosting, instead of a vanilla bean, I added a few tablespoons of some Raspberry Sauce (leftovers from a repeat of the deliciousMolten Chocolate Cakes, just with raspberry sauce rather than blue/blackberry.) I’m sure some raspberry extract, preserves, or pureed fresh/frozen raspberries would work just as well. Delicious. :) And bite-sized – so 12 dozen of them will probably be gone quicker than we think!

Edited: Obviously I said yes!!!

Roasted Chicken with Sweet-Potato Risotto and Cranberry Sauce