Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

Even with this holiday season being so full of things to do (work, grad school, and now my new video game Skyrim) I have been trying out recipes for Thanksgiving.  We go to my aunt's home each Thanksgiving so I do not have to cook dinner but I like bringing over different side dishes.  Last year with my sweet potato risotto I was able to get people who had never liked sweet potatoes to try them, and like them.  I wanted to do something different for this year, so this is one of the recipes that I chose.

This is a time intensive recipe.  I don't know if my oven is getting hot enough (got to get it checked) but I started this recipe when I got home from work and it wasn't done by 8 pm.  By that time I was sooo hungry.  I thought it was a decent side dish, but a bit bland.  Others in the house thought it was great.  I think I just like more complex flavors in a dish.  Enjoy! (And yes, its gluten free!)

Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients
4 Tbs of butter
1 lb of sweet potatoes, roasted and mashed
1 Tbs of fresh thyme
1 Tbs of fresh rosemary
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
4 eggs, separated
2 tsp baking soda

After roasting sweet potatoes, reduce oven temp to 350 degrees.  In a pot, combine milk, rosemary and thyme, sugar, salt and pepper on medium heat.  Let boil.  Then slowly whisk cornmeal into milk mixture.  Keep stirring until the mixture is thick and pulls away from sides of pot.  Take it off heat and put in a large bowl.  Let cool for 3 minutes.  Add potatoes, egg yolks, 3 Tbs of butter, baking powder and stir to mix together ingredients.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixture until soft peaks form.  Fold the whites into the potato mixture, so you can see white swirls.  Put the final mixture in a dish that has been greased with the remaining 1 Tbs of butter.

Bake for 35 to 20 minutes until the internal temperature is 165 F.  If you would like a little browning on the top, you may have to put under hot broiler for 2 minutes.  Edges will be firm but the inside will be a little soft.  Take out of oven and let sit for 10 minutes.  Best when served warm.

Blistered Tomatoes with Creamy Polenta

I am reeling from the death of one of my cats.  He got sick over the weekend while I was in New Orleans.   My brother in law took him to the animal hospital, who said it was just his hyperthyroidism, and gave him two shots.  He seemed just fine when we got back home.  He gave us two happy days and then Wed was in so much pain that we had to put him down.  Crookers was a extremely smart cat and was like a puppy in a cat's body.  He was an alley cat when we had gotten him and was called Crookie (or Crookers) because he had a crooked neck from a previous incident.  They estimated that he was 3 years old when we got him but with the symptoms that he had 7 years later we think that he was older when we got him.  I had gone through putting a cat down before, 2 years ago, but this one was very sudden and unexpected.  I miss him a lot and the house is so quiet now.   Little kitty has spent the last two days sleeping all day in my bed and Epona keeps looking for him and hiding under the table.

Crookers the night before he passed.  

I will write more about my New Orleans Trip some other time, but I am glad to be back home where I can be a gluten free vegetarian.  Both seemed almost impossible (vegetarian more than GF) in New Orleans.  My first meal home, especially dealing with the death of Crookers, was easy and comforting.

Blistered Tomatoes with Creamy Polenta

Ingredients
2 cups of cherry tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic minced
5 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup fine ground cornmeal
2 Tbs olive oil
Handful of torn Italian basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the vegetable broth in a pot.  Sprinkle in the cornmeal, whisk constantly.  Lower heat to medium and continue to stir every few minutes until thickened.  This can take 20 - 40 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

While polenta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large pan on high.  Add garlic and stir for 30 minutes.  Add whole tomatoes and agitate them by shaking skillet back an forth for around 5 minutes.  You will see the tomatoes begin to blister and pick up some color.  Turn off heat, mix in torn basil and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve on top of polenta and add parmesan cheese.

Vegan Tamale Pie

This is the first year that I have hated winter. Previously I always liked the first two months of cold, November and December--the smell of turning on the heat for the first time, the first snow, the holidays. This year, I was tired of it from the first day of freezing weather that killed the last of my plants who were holding out. No going outside, no botanical gardens, no green... I am over it already. I need it to be March so I can look forward to my daffodils, crocuses, and irises coming out.

Here is a colorful and filling dish to make your winter a little more tolerable. I ran out of cumin and used some of the Jamaican Jerk seasoning that we brought back from our honeymoon instead. I'm not a big fan of cumin so I think Ill use jerk seasoning again when I make this next time but I'll let you know how much cumin to use if you want the traditional taste. I made this for my parent's christmas and it was a big hit as a side dish but could also be a filling main dish. My non vegan family members added sharp cheddar cheese as a topping.

Vegan Tamale Pie

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 15 oz can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups of frozen corn, thawed

4 tablespoons of jerk seasoning (or 2 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 tsp of ground cumin and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper)

2 tsp of crushed red pepper

salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 cup of coarse cornmeal

3 1/2 cups of water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute the onion, bell peppers, and garlic until soft. Stir in 1/2 cup of water tomatoes, beans, corn, jerk seasoning and salt to taste. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables soften. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

In a saucepan bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the cornmeal and 1/2 tsp of salt and whisk to combine. Return to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened. Add black pepper and more salt to taste and take off of heat.

Spread the cornmeal mixture over the bean mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.