Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato Cake

• 1 sweet potato
• Zest from 1/2 of an orange
• 1 cup sugar
• ¾ canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.  Grind zest and sweet potato in food processor.  Scrape down the bowl.  Add sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.  Pulse until blended.  Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Pulse just to incorporate. 

Pour into prepared pan. 

Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes on a rack and dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Sauce – Heat milk in saucepan over med. Heat until small bubbles form.  In a bowl whisk sugar with eggs and slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly.  Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.  Do not let the sauce boil or it will curdle.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Pour the sauce into a metal bowl, then place the bowl in a pan of ice water to chill.  Drizzle over the warm cake and serve. 

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup 

8 servings

• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 10-11 ounce fully cooked smoked Potuguese linguica sausage or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into ¼-inch thick slices
• 1 pound potatoes, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into ¼-inch thick slices
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 bunch collard greens, chopped and sautéed lightly (4 minutes) in a dash of olive oil

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.  Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to paper towls to drain.  ADdonions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes.  Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes.  Add broth; bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.  Using potato mashes, mash some of potatoes in pot.  Add browned sausage to soup.  Stir in sautéed collards and simmer 2 minutes.  Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Divide among bowls and serve. 

Savory Sweet Potato & Poblano Rustic Tart

If you don't feel like making the pie crust, skip it. This dish would be great as a composed roasted sweet potato dish or cooked as a gratin or casserole. You could even bind the ingredients together with a custard as sort of a crustless quiche.

Makes one 9-inch pie

• 9-inch uncooked pie crust (recipe), rolled into a 10-inch diameter circle and refrigerated
• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 3 to 4 medium poblano or Anaheim peppers (or substitute 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle peppers)
• 4 whole shallots or 2 small white onions, quartered
• 1/2 cup Mexican crema, or sour cream
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• a pinch of Mexican oregano
• a pinch of cumin seeds
• salt and pepper
• wedge of lime

Wash the sweet potatoes well, pat dry, and prick with a fork several times.  Place on a baking pan with the shallots or onions. Drizzle the shallots or onions with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast at 400 degrees F until the sweet potatoes are very tender and beginning to caramelize. If the onions begin to burn before the sweet potatoes are done, remove them from the baking tray and set aside.

Cool cooked sweet potatoes completely.

When cool, slip the skins off the sweet potatoes and cut into rough 2-inch chunks. (This step can be done up to several days in advance.)

If you have a gas stove, roast the poblano peppers over direct flame until blistered and blackened all over. Otherwise, you can broil them until they begin to blister. Place in a paper bag or wrap in foil and set aside to cool. When cool, rub most of the charred skin off the peppers, deseed them, and -- with your fingers, if your peppers aren't of the hot variety -- tear the peppers into strips. Set aside.

When your vegetables are cool, remove your pie crust from the refrigerator. Roll out and be sure to patch any holes. Drape your circle of dough over your rolling pin and transfer to a pizza pan or baking sheet if not already on one.

Spread the bottom of the crust with the crema or sour cream, leaving a 2-inch border around the outside of the crust.

Next, spread the sweet potato chunks, the onions or shallots and the pepper strips over the crema. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cumin, oregano, the cilantro and the green onions.

Fold the edge of the dough up over the top of the filling, pleating the dough as you work your way around the circle.  Place the tart in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake the tart for 45 minutes or until the crust is dark golden brown. Remove from the oven, squeeze the lime wedge over the filling and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve warm or at room temperature.