The Gratest Potato

With the end of November within sight, the holidays are just around the bend. I figure, we at Dedicated to Deliciousness should start posting some recipes that will inspire some awesome holiday feasts. So here is a very simple recipe that requires few ingredients, and has a tasty outcome. A slight twist to a Swiss Rösti, sweet potatoes are used instead of a regular spud, but you could definitely use either. The sweet potato increases the nutritious factor though, and definitely ups the delicious factor, as well. 

The addictive quality of food increases significantly when it is shredded, grated, pulled, shaved, julienned, minced, crumbled, whatever. It's a fact. These methods expose more surface are to the taste buds than, say, simply biting into a chunk of the food. It also makes it look more interesting too.

You will need:
2 Large sweet potatoes, grated
2 Eggs, beaten
2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1 Medium Onion, very thinly sliced, julienned or if you have a food processor, grated
Couple springs of fresh rosemary
Sour cream or mayonaisse
Splash of vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While that heats up, squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the grated sweet potatoes. Use your hands working in batches or throw the whole load into a clean kitchen towel and press the liquid out, using the towel as a strainer. Then toss the strained potatoes in a large mixing bowl, followed by the onion, and half of the cheese. Add some finely chopped rosemary for a little something extra if you're into that. Then slowly pour in the beaten eggs as you mix everything together with yours hands.

Splash some oil in a deep baking pan or dish and grease it up with a brush or paper towel. Dump the whole mixture right in the pan and spread around evenly, but try not to compress the potatoes too much. Throw it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, pull it out, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes, until it is golden brown and the edges are crispy.

Cut into squares and garnish with a dollop or sour cream, or mayonaisse if you want a heavier flavour, and a small sprig of rosemary. Makes for a great side dish or a course by itself. 

Inhale.

Love Me Long Thai-me

So maybe you've been living under a rock for the past while and haven't been exposed to the tasty sensations of Thai curry. Now I'm not claiming to be some sort of expert on Thai food, or curries for that matter, but I would like to regard myself as an expert on deliciousness. This dish I made the other night might not be a traditional Thai curry in anyway, but it was definitely inspired by the cuisine and flavours. For those readers who do not know shit about curries, there are a few different kinds and they all have different tastes. Curry is found commonly in South Asian cooking, and the flavours vary from culture to culture. Speaking specifically about Thai curries, there are primarily yellow, red and green curries. They all taste unique, but can be categorized by their heat level. One might assume that green is the mildest, and red is the hottest with yellow being a cautionary medium heat, but it is not the case. Yellow curries are milder, with red being a medium heat, and green being the spiciest. I'm not a huge fan of yellow curry and opt for red and green usually. Even if you're not a fan of spicy food (pansy), you can use red or green curry to achieve fantastic flavour, just don't use too much.

When I made this dish I was trying to keep it pretty light in the sense that there is no meat in it, but it is actually quite hearty and filling. Instead of using meat, I used chick peas for protein, and they have a great texture, too. Sweet potatoes and baby potatoes were also used which definitely helps thicken up this meal and makes it stick to your ribs. Since there is no meat in this dish, the potatoes are easy to digest and you don't feel like shit after eating a big ass bowl of this goodness. Also, to up the health factor, instead of using plain old boring rice, I cooked up some flavourful quinoa (say keen-wa) to party with the curry. Quinoa is an ancient seed from South America that is ridiculously good for you. It has been called a super grain, and it has protein and all the amino acids you need in it. It is becoming fairly common place in super markets and should be found in the health food section or around where you would find cous cous. It also cooks quicker than rice, and tastes a hell of a lot better, especially when cooked with some onions and garlic.

You will need:

Chick pea and Sweet Potato Curry

Splash of olive or vegetable oil

4 cloves of garlic, chopped real fine

1 large onion, chopped

A small finger of ginger (throw it in the freezer if you remember)

Teaspoon of curry paste (approximately, add more if you're into spiciness)

2 Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

4-5 New baby potatoes, washed and cubed

Can of chick peas (drained and rinsed)

Can of coconut milk

1/2 cup of some sort of nut butter (cashew butter is amazing but pricey, peanut butter is good but opt for some real shit not the sugary Kraft stuff)

1 cup of orange juice

Pinch or two of sea salt

Bunch of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Quinoa Pilaf

Splash of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped real fine

2 cloves of garlic, chopped real fine

1 cup of Quinoa, rinsed in cold water and drained

2 cups of chicken broth, or vegetable broth, or water

Sea salt and ground black pepper

The quinoa cooks pretty quick so start with the curry.

Splash some oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat and toss in that onion and garlic to party until they're light golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Grate some ginger into the pan with a microplane if you got one, or the fine side of a box grater, and spoon in the curry paste. Keep this shit partying in the pot until the spices are thoroughly heated and fragrant as hell, another couple minutes.

Invite the sweet potatoes, chick peas, coconut milk, orange juice, nut butter, and a dash of salt to the pot party. Stir it up, bring it to a solid simmer, then rock the heat down low and continue to simmer until the potatoes are all tender, about 30 minutes. Now is a good time to start cooking the quinoa.

Throw some oil in a sauce pan over medium heat, and toss in the garlic and onions, cooking until they get a nice little tan on. Add the quinoa and cook for about 5 more minutes so it too gets nice and toasty like. This will be the difference between good quinoa, and tasty-as-fuck quinoa. Yes it'll be that tasty. 

Pour in the liquid, season with sea salt and a few grinds of pepper, and bring that shit to a simmer. Cover and cook until the liquid is all absorbed, and the is tender, about 15 minutes. Let it stand for a few minutes before serving into bowls.

Now that the quinoa is done, and the curry is finished simmering, throw the chopped cilantro into the curry and serve in bowls on top of quinoa. Garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro, and some chopped cashews or peanuts. Devour. 

On a bit of a side note, curry is super versatile. By super, I mean you could literally throw garbage into it and make it taste reasonably delicious. Well, maybe not garbage but hopefully you get the point. Add whatever vegetables you have kicking around or enjoy. Since squash is in season, add some squash instead of sweet potatoes, throw some brocolli in, or add some tomatoes. Peas, why not? Spinach, sure. Even add some meat if you can't stand vegetarian food simply for the fact that you think it's not manly enough. Truth be told, it is completely possible to not eat meat at every meal and still maintain a manly rapport, especially with bold flavours like curry.