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Sweet Potato Donuts

I snuck off to NYC at the beginning of November for the majority of the month. Finished the trip off with a good ol’ fashion Brooklyn Drunksgiving, where I made my 2 favorite dishes, and tried out a new turkey technique, to be known asDrunken British Bucket Turkey. It was the best turkey I’ve ever eaten, other than the fact it was slightly overdone, since we basted the pop-up timer shut.

This time with the donuts, I tried the original recipe, compared to last time with a different icing.

How do ya’ll like the new layout?

Saffron Sweet Potato Fries with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce

Delicious simple side dish, the sauce is really nice and quick to make, it would go with a lot of different dishes.

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato, cut into wedges
1 tsp imitation saffron
Olive oil, salt and pepper
1 cup of light sour cream
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice
Chili flakes, to taste

Mix the sour cream, cilantro and lime, and season with salt and chili flakes.

Coat the sweet potato with saffron, olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake for 30 minutes at 200C / 375F, flipping halfway through.

Sweet Potato Cakes with Sauteed Kale, Mushrooms and Lentils, and Mint Yogurt Sauce

Anyone whose even remotely looked at the recipes on this blog has probably noticed I make a lot of meat. Like, a lot. But I’ve been getting inspired to do some vegetarian cooking by Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty, there are some beautiful recipes in that book that I’m planning on playing around with. The below is inspired by the book.

Ingredients (sweet potato cakes):

1 cup mashed sweet potato
2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Butter

Mix everything but the butter (batter should dry enough to handle), and get the butter warm in a pan. Divide into 4 balls, flatten and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Ingredients (yogurt sauce):

3/4 cup greek yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 bunch of fresh mint leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Puree.

Ingredients (lentils):

1 can of lentils, drained
3 cups of roughly chopped kale
1 portabello mushroom, roughly sliced
1 cup white wine
4 garlic cloves
1 chili
1 orange, in slices
Salt and olive oil

Mash garlic, chili and salt in a mortar and pestle. Saute in a bit of olive oil with the mushrooms. Add the kale and cook for 3-4 minutes before adding the wine and lentils. Season with salt to taste and cook until the wine is reduced, about 10 minutes. Serve on the sweet potato cakes and top with orange slices and mint yogurt.

Five Minute Lasagna

This isn’t fancy, it’s my answer to “the pizza guy will take an hour… now what?” It takes 5 minutes to put together, get your stopwatch out.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cups of ricotta cheese
1 cup of shredded cheese
2 cups of shredded vegetables (I used zucchini and sweet potato)
1 cup roughly chopped / ripped up fresh basil (or other herbs)
1/2 cup water
Lasagna sheets
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Turn the oven on to 200C / 375F. In a 9x13 pan, cover the bottom with half of one of the cans of tomato. Layer on lasagna sheets in a single layer. Top with half the veggies, 1/3 of the ricotta, 1/3 of the basil, half can of the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and layer on more lasagna sheets. Repeat, topping with another layer of lasagna sheets. Pour the water over, then top with the remaining tomato, ricotta, basil, and the shredded cheese. Season and drizzle on a bit of olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10.

Lamb Rack Roast and Grilled Veggie Salad

I have not been cooking this week. Tis the season for wine to be an acceptable substitute for dinner, apparently, although I’ve got to say I’ve been out to two new places this week that blew my mind.

I’ve heard a lot of hype about Ms. G’s in Potts Point, but I’ve been skeptical of the queues and overpriced cocktails. It was all true. I would eat there every day if I could. Besides everything being amazing, we finished off with a dessert called Stoner’s Delight 2.0, which pretty much tastes like magic on a plate.

I think I actually first discovered Duke Bistro in Surry Hills on the internet, somewhere. Thank you, internet! It’s one of the coolest venues I’ve found in Sydney, hidden upstairs in what feels like someone’s house, and the food was incredible. Anyplace that suggests you start off with the bacon jam is my sort of place.

Oh, in case you were more interested in the salad, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

.5 kilo lamb rack
1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme
Olive oil, salt and pepper
1/4 cup red wine
Juice of 1 lemon
1 red or yellow pepper, sliced in strips
2 portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 sweet potatoes, sliced
Lettuce and tomatoes, or whatever else you want in your salad

Rub the lamb rack with salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup of thyme (no olive oil). Let it hang out and get happy while you do the rest.

Toss the sweet potatoes in 1/4 cup of thyme, and season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake on 200C / 375F, flipping halfway through, for about 30-40 minutes until they’re golden.

In a hot pan that can go in the oven, with a drizzle of olive oil, sear the lamb for 2 minutes on each side (including the top, so 3 sides), and rest it with the meatiest side touching the pan. Pour in the red wine and add half the lemon juice, and bake for about 10 minutes. Flip, and bake for another 10 before removing and letting it rest. When you flip the meat, grill the veggies with salt, pepper and olive oil. Or roast them with the sweet potatoes, or eat them raw. Assemble your salad and pour on the rest of the lemon juice. Serves 2.

Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Burnt Caramel Sauce

Three years ago, for Thanksgiving, we bought some sweet potatoes that weren’t yellow on the inside. While I was happy to let this slide, my good (British) friend insisted on finding “real American sweet potatoes” and went out on the hunt. She was successful, and I was determined not to let the rest go to waste. I found this recipe from Paula Dean, and have made these doughnuts every year since. Maple syrup is like liquid gold in Australia, so I went for a more cost effective glaze and tried out the burnt caramel sauce recipe here, minus the salt. I actually liked this better than the maple glaze, but go nuts and try both!

Honey and Banana Sweet Potatoes

Another one from the Food Network, this one is an exact copy except for a half cup of sour cream and the removal of the nuts. Despite the reviews on the site, I didn’t find this too sweet, but that’s probably because I’m not the world’s biggest sweet potato fan.

Greek Chicken Lasagna

I honestly thought this would be a disaster, but it wasn’t a bad experiment. I tried to make it a bit healthier, but the yogurt sauce could easily be replaced with a cheese sauce (or even tomato) for a quick and easy lasagna.

Ingredients (serves 4):

Uncooked lasagna sheets
500g ground chicken or chopped leftover chicken
1 sweet potato, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
3 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1 cup greek yogurt
2 cups milk
1 cup light ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped coriander or parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

In a pan, cook the sweet potato, chicken, and zucchini.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and stir in flour. Add the milk, yogurt, lemon, half the ricotta, lemon, coriander, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Put a few spoons of the sauce into a 9 inch square baking dish. Cover pan with lasagna sheets, and a bit more sauce. Add half the chicken and veggie mixture, and a bit more sauce. Cover with lasagna noodles, more sauce, the rest of the chicken and veggies, more sauce, and top with noodles. Cover with sauce, and the rest of the ricotta. Bake for 30 minutes at 180C / 325F.