Spiced & Baked Sweet Potato Fries

(4 servings)

Sweet potatoes are in season in Texas at the moment so a grabbed a few to make these delicious baked fries. It took me less than 10 minutes to wash, peel, cut and season these tasty tubers. The difficult part was waiting for them while they were in the oven, the aroma they gave off set off hunger pangs something fierce!

You can keep this tasty side dish simple by seasoning them with just salt and pepper, or you can try any combination of spices you like. I have made a few different versions of these fries, and they have been "oh, so good!", every single time.

sweet potato fries
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, pressed or minced
2-3 sweet potatoes, about 1 1/2 lbs
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
a few pinches cayenne

quick ketchup 
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp water
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp mustard

Combine the olive oil and garlic, then set aside while you prepare the potatoes.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Wash, peel and cut the sweet potatoes into sticks that are about 1/3 of an inch thick. You may cut them larger or smaller if you prefer, but you might have to adjust the baking time.

Place the potatoes into a bowl. Pour the oil and garlic mixture over the sweet potatoes and toss until evenly coated.

Stir together the paprika, cumin, pepper, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the sweet potatoes, and toss again until the spice mixture is evenly distributed among the fries.

Place the potatoes onto a lightly oiled baking sheet in a single layer, trying not too crowd them too much.

Bake them for about 20 minutes, remove them from the oven and quickly flip them over. Bake them further for another 10-15 minutes or until they are crispy on the outside.

Combine all the ingredients for the ketchup and serve with the sweet potato fries.

Pierogi with Sauerkraut, Mushroom & Bacon Filling

(about 30 3" pierogi)

I'm a huge fan of dumplings. They are the epitome of comfort food. These sauerkraut pierogi are a nice alternative to the ones with potato and cheese.

If you feel inclined, you can triple the amount and freeze them. I like to arrange them in a single layer on a lightly floured cookie sheet which I place into the freezer for about 20 minutes. At that point they will be cold enough to bag without them sticking together.

I added some melted butter to the dough because a reader mentioned an aunt had done so and her pierogi "melted in your mouth". To be honest, I didn't notice much of a difference. I may not have added enough butter. It was worthwhile trying and I have left the butter in the recipe as an option if you are inclined to give it a try.

sauerkraut filling
1/4 lb peppered bacon, diced
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
2 cups sauerkraut
salt and pepper
3 tbsp sour cream

Place the bacon into a large skillet and fry until it's almost crispy. Remove most of the rendered fat in the skillet, leaving a teaspoonful or two behind. Add the onion and mushrooms.

Lower the heat and stir the onions and mushrooms into the bacon. Cook, stirring from time to time until the mixture is dry; about 10-12 minutes.

Add the sauerkraut and cook until it has heated through and the mixture is dry again.

Cool the filling. Check and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. Stir in the sour cream until it's well combined.

dough
2 1/4cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp melted butter, cooled (optional)

2 - 5 tbsp water

Place the flour, egg, salt, sour cream and butter (if using) into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade. Pulse a few times. If the dough doesn't form into a ball and pull away from the sides, then add a tablespoon of water at a time until it does. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough.

Process the dough for a few seconds, then place it into a buttered bowl and cover with a damp kitchen towel for at least 20 minutes.

To assemble

butter
cracked pepper

sour cream

Grab a third of the dough at a time and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/6 of an inch thick. Cut out as many *three inch circles as you can. 

*I use a glass for this, depending on the size of your cutting tool,  feel free to make your pierogi slightly larger or smaller if you wish.

Place as much filling as you can into the middle of each circle without letting any of it touch the edges (otherwise you won't get a good seal and the dumplings might open as you boil them). 

Fold the edges together to form crescents, dust them lightly with flour and continue to work until you have used all of the filling and dough.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the pierogi, taking care not to crowd them too much (you might have to cook them in batches). Reduce the heat slightly so the water simmers and cook them until they rise to the surface; about 3-5 minutes.

Toss the pierogi in a small amount of butter, dust with freshly cracked pepper and serve with sour cream.

Rouladen filled with Sauerkraut

(8 rouladen)

Occasionally I come across packages of sliced top beef round steak at WF. These slices are super thin and perfect for making rouladen, a German meat roll. There are countless ways these can be filled and seasoned. This time I tried something a bit different using horseradish and sauerkraut, instead of my usual mustard and pickles.

8 large (about 1/8th inch thick) slices of beef top round, 
 about 1 3/4 lb
4 tbsp prepared horseradish
salt, pepper and paprika
4 thick or 8 thin slices bacon
a few thin slices yellow onion
2-3 cups sauerkraut, drained (and rinsed if it's really sour)
kitchen string or toothpicks
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 large yellow onion, sliced
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 cups beef broth
1 cup dry red wine
8 juniper berries, lightly crushed
1 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper, if needed

1 1/2 tbsp potato starch
3 tbsp heavy cream

Spread about 1/2 tablespoon of horseradish over each slice of meat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

Divide the bacon and onion between the slices of meat and top with the sauerkraut.

Turn the sides of the meat over by 3/4 inch lengthwise (see photo) and roll the meat up. I like to do this so the filling doesn't escape while the meat is cooking. Secure each roll with either kitchen string or wooden toothpicks.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the rouladen until they are nicely browned, then place them into a heavy pot with a tight fitting lid. The pot should be large enough to hold all of the rouladen in a single layer. Hold onto the skillet; don't clean.

Lower the heat and add a small amount of oil to the skillet if needed. Add the onions. Stir and scrape the browned bits into the onions as they cook. Add them to the pot, when the onions have softened.

Add the mushrooms, beef broth, wine, juniper berries, paprika, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring the liquid to a simmer then cover the pot with a tight fitting lid. Lower the heat and cook for one hour.

Remove the lid, turn all of the rouladen over, cover the pot once again and continue to cook for another hour or until the meat is tender.

Remove the rouladen from the pot. Cut off the kitchen string or remove the toothpicks. Using a slotted spoon remove the mushroom and onions and add those to the rouladen. Pick out the bay leaves and juniper berries. If you miss a berry or two, don't worry about it.. they taste fine if you bite into one.

Bring the spiced broth and wine mixture to a simmer and cook until the liquid has been reduced by about a third.

Stir together the potato starch and cream until smooth and stir in a few tablespoons of the hot broth. Whisk the slurry back into the pot and simmer briskly for about a minute until the gravy thickens. Check and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if needed.

Return the rouladen, mushrooms and onions to the gravy, and heat through.

Serve. These rouladen are great with whipped potatoes. The gravy is amazing!

Pear Frangipane Tart

(6-8 servings)

I've spent the better part of this week in bed. Midweek I had minor surgery which went well, however it took me a few days to recover from the anesthesia. I thought it interesting how I felt almost no discomfort in the area where the cutting was actually done, yet I had a wicked headache lasting several days as well as a sore throat because of a tube they inserted. I'm still feeling tired, but at least I'm up and about today. I baked this tart the day before I had my surgery. It held up really well and I enjoyed a slice of it with milk the day after the surgery.

I had made a version of this tart with ready made almond paste previously, but the market was out of it and the grocer mentioned this method. She suggested twice the amount of sugar and butter, but I reduced both and this tart was fantastic.

3 firm pears
1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
2 large eggs

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Wash and peel the pears. Slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out the core. Brush them with the lemon juice and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place the almonds, sugar and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Add the baking powder and eggs. Process until the mixture is smooth and creamy looking. Set aside.

Press the pie crust into a 9 inch tart pan and trim the edges. Pour the almond mixture into the prepared pan and spread it evenly across the bottom.

Slice the pears into 1/4 inch slices and arrange those slices over the almond mixture. See the bottom right photo.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the top and crust have browned nicely and the middle feels firm to the touch.

Allow to cool completely before serving. I imagine it would be nice with whipped cream. I had it plain and it was great!

Wild Mexican Plum Jam

(about 1 1/2 pints)

I have two fairly large wild mexican plum trees (prunus mexicana) in front of my house, adjacent to the sidewalk. These drought tolerant trees are the first to bloom each spring with a showy display of white flowers. Towards the end of July the fruit begins to fall off the trees before it's fully ripe. The yellowish plums turn into a lovely reddish purple as they continue to ripen on the ground. This (mess) continues throughout September.

This year I picked about 2 pounds of plums and left them in a paper bag on my counter for a few days. At their ripest these small cherry-sized plums are still quite sour, but they make a wonderful tart jam.

2 lbs wild mexican plums 3 cups water 2-3 cups *sugar Wash the plums, pick them over and place them into a heavy pot. Add the water and bring them to a boil for about 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat. When the plums are cool enough to handle remove a cupful at a time and place into a sieve placed over a bowl. Don't discard any of the water in the pot.  Remove the seeds and press as much pulp though as you can. Continue until you have gone through all of the plums. Return the pulp mixture to the water in the pot. (I like to go through the discarded seed and skin mixture afterwards and pick out a few skins to return to the pot for their texture and colour, but this isn't necessary.) Place a small plate into your freezer. Add 2 cups of  sugar to the plums and stir until it has dissolved. Taste. Add more sugar if the mixture is too tart. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat a touch and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms. Remove the cold plate from the freezer and place a teaspoonful of jam onto the dish. If the jam is too runny then simmer it for a few more minutes and try again. If you like its consistency, then ladle into hot sterilized jars, cover, cool and keep refrigerated. If you plan on keeping the jam longer than 4-6 weeks, then ladle into hot sterilized jars leaving about a 1/2" head space. Cover with metal lids, and screw on the bands. Process in boiling water bath 8 minutes (extend this time to 15 minutes if your jars weren't hot and sterilized beforehand). Remove from the water and leave to cool.