Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Apples

Merry Christmas!  J.T., Otis, and I are about to head over to my parent’s house for a day full of eating, presents, and tornado warnings! Yesterday, I made Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Apples and it will be served at our Christmas lunch.  It smells amazing and I even had to stop J.T. from sampling it yesterday!  Many of you may already know, but my birthday actually falls on Christmas.  I woke up to a sweet surprise from my husband – my birthday present.  I asked for food related items – kitchen tools, etc – and he delivered.  He even bought me two bottles of organic extra virgin olive oil!  Nothing excites me more than receiving kitchen tools, appliances, and specialty food items J Merry Christmas to each of you reading this blog.  May your day be filled with precious time with your loved ones celebrating the birth of Jesus. 

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients

For the sweet potatoes:

·         4 lbs. sweet potatoes

·         ½ cup almond milk

·         ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

·         4 tablespoons coconut oil

·         ¼ cup brown sugar

·         1 teaspoon cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon nutmeg

·         2 teaspoons kosher salt

·         ¼ teaspoon black pepper

For the apples:

·         3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths

·         3 tablespoons coconut oil

·         3 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

1.      For the sweet potatoes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Roast the sweet potatoes until very tender when pierced with a fork, about an hour.  When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and discard.  Place the potato flesh in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add the almond milk, orange juice, coconut oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Mix together on low until combined.  The sweet potatoes should still be slightly lumpy.  Pour the filling into a greased baking dish. 

2.      For the apples, heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the apples and brown sugar.  Sauté for 5 to 10 minutes or until the apples are nicely browned on all sides.  Evenly distribute the cooked apple slices on top of the sweet potato filling.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.  

Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

     Last Friday, I was at the doctor for this horrible sickness that still lingers around in my body.  While I am doing better, my head is still stuffy and my nose is still runny.  My cough has become less frequent and food is starting to become a tad more appetizing.  This past Wednesday, I started to feel better for the first time.  This led me to believe I was ready to get back to normal.  Wrong.  By the end of the day Thursday I felt awful, so my husband (and mother) confined me back to the couch.  I have spent most of today resting…again.  I am more up to date on facebook, day time television, and the news media than any one individual should be.  I did manage to make these muffins on Wednesday, when I felt so great.  There were two apples in fridge that were supposed to be used for an apple crostata.  Instead, I used the apples in these muffins.  They turned out absolutely delicious and I was pleased to get the perfect batch on my first attempt! 

Recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking

Ingredients

·         2 granny smith apples, unpeeled, very finely grated with accumulated juices

·         4 tablespoons pure maple syrup

·         4 tablespoons honey

·         2 eggs

·         1 ½ cups whole grain gluten-free flour blend (see note below)

·         2 teaspoons baking powder

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon kosher salt

·         1/3 cup coconut oil

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease or line a12-cup muffin tin. 

2.      In a small bowl, stir together the grated apples, maple syrup, honey, and eggs.  Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes.  Slowly stream in the coconut oil, stirring constantly. 

3.      Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the whole grain gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and kosher salt. 

4.      Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is thoroughly combined.  Use an ice cream scoop to evenly distribute the batter into the muffin tin.  Bake for 16 minutes.  Cool in the muffin tin for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Yields 12 muffins. 

Note:  The 1 ½ cups of whole grain gluten-free flour blend used in this recipe came from this batch of flours:

·         350 grams oat flour

·         350 grams buckwheat flour

·         300 grams arrowroot powder

Sweet Italian Sausage with Apple & Fennel Seed

     As I mentioned in my last post, J.T. and I just celebrated our 6 month wedding anniversary.  Over the weekend, we took a quick getaway trip to Orange Beach.  One thing that we were most looking forward to about the trip was the food – seafood to be exact.  I didn’t grow up eating a lot of seafood and neither did J.T.  We decided to be a little adventurous with our menu selections (he was definitely more adventurous than me).  Between the two of us, we ate flounder, stuffed crab, crab claws, shrimp, scallops, snowcrab, royal reds, and crawfish.  The best place we ate was The Gumbo Shack, located in Fairhope, Alabama and featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  They had the best gumbo I have ever tasted!  After stuffing ourselves with seafood for two days, we finished off our trip with a grass feed hamburger from Lulu’s.  J.T. could teach Lulu a thing or two about cooking a hamburger!  I enjoyed our time eating out, but I was ready for a home cooked meal after our vacation.  For our first meal back, I cooked Sweet Italian Sausage with Apple & Fennel Seed.  This hearty meal of sausage and white beans is a quick and easy supper for a cold weekday evening. 

 Recipe adapted from Poor Girl Gourmet

Ingredients

·         1 teaspoon fennel seeds

·         3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·         1 medium sweet onion, chopped

·         4 links sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed, and cut into 1 – inch pieces

·         ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·         ½ cup water

·         1 Granny Smith apple, finely diced

·         ½ pound great northern beans, cooked (or 2 – 15 ounce cans)

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

·         ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Directions

1.      Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Toast the fennel seeds for exactly 2 minutes, stirring the seeds around the pan constantly.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

2.      In the same pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, or until they begin to turn translucent.  Add the sausage to the pan and cook until it is nicely browned, at least 10 minutes.  Sprinkle in the crushed red pepper flakes and pour in the water.  Scrape any browned bits up from the bottom of the pan.

3.      Add the toasted fennel seeds, apples, and beans.  Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.  The bright green apple skin should turn a pale green.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serves 4 large portions.  

Apple Chutney

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups apples, peeled and chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  
• ¾ cup raisins
  
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  
• ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
  
• ¼ cup raspberry white wine vinegar
  

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally for 2 hours. Use a potato masher to lightly break apart the apples. Simmer for an additional hour until thickened. Yields 1 ½ pints. Serve over chicken or pork.
   

 

Recipe very loosely adapted from Joy of Cooking

 Easy Cranberry and Apple Cake

recipe courtesy of Barefoot Contessa  

How Easy Is That?

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over for stems
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
• ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges)
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1⅛ teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla, and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour and salt.
4. Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the batter over the fruit, covering it completely. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and ⅛ teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Serves 6 to 8.

Roasted Pear and Apple Sauce

recipe adapted from "How Easy Is That?"

Ingredients

• Zest and juice of 2 large navel oranges
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 lbs. sweet red apples, 8 apples
• 3 lbs. ripe Bosc pears, 7 pears
• 1/2 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 tbs. EVOO
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Place the zest and juices of the oranges and lemon in a nonreactive Dutch oven such as Le Creuset.  Peel, quarter, and core the apples and pears and toss them in the juice.  Add the brown sugar, EVOO, and cinnamon and cover the pot.  Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until the apples and pears are tender.  Mix with a whisk until the applesauce is smooth but still a little chunky.  Depending on the ripeness of the fruit, the apples will likely fall apart and the pears will break up but stay chunky.  Serve warm or at room temperature.