Lemon Ginger Sweet Potatoes

Full disclosure... I am not a fan of Thanksgiving yams/sweet potatoes or any of the marshmallow coated casseroles that are so popular this time of year. But last year, I had a sweet potato dish made by my friend, Carina. They were sweet but not overly sweet. They had a hint of citrus, which I thought was orange, but she used lemon, not orange. They were so subtle and sweet and just down right delicious and a nice complement to all the creamy gravy laden dishes of Thanksgiving yummy-ness.  I've been wanting to make a version of her sweet potatoes since last year and that time is finally here. I used her basic recipe of sweet potatoes baked in a brown sugar syrup with lemon slices topping them. I added some ginger, garlic and herbs to complement the lemon and the sweetness of the potatoes and it turned out amazing. Thank you Carina for the inspiration with your delicious recipe. 
                                         🦃Happy Thanksgiving!🦃

Lemon Ginger Sweet Potatoes

Serves 6-8

1.5-2 lbs. sweet potatoes or yams with similar diameter(about 2 lbs)
2-3 lemons, sliced into 1/4" slices
salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (to taste)
Simple brown sugar syrup(see recipe below)
Compound butter(see recipe below)

Prepare Simple Syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2-3 slices of fresh peeled ginger
lemon peel of one lemon

Add sugar, water, ginger and lemon peel into a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, until sugar is completely dissolved. Turn heat down and let simmer for 10 minutes. Do not strain lemon or ginger from the syrup, leaving it in intensifies the flavors. Let syrup cool and place an air tight container . Refrigerate until ready to use. Can be made up to 3-5 days in advance.  

Prepare Compound Butter
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T fresh oregano, finely chopped
3 T fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use. Can be made up to 3-5 days in advance.

Prepare Potatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice fresh lemon into 1/4" slices, removing seeds from slices and set aside. Peel sweet potatoes and slice into 1/4" rounds and add to a large mixing bowl. Generously salt and pepper sweet potatoes. Add cayenne pepper to taste. Note: A quick sprinkle of cayenne elevates the lemon and ginger without much heat. 

Add simple syrup to the sliced sweet potatoes and mix until well coated. 

Spray 9"x 13" casserole dish with cooking spray. Begin stacking sliced potatoes like poker chips into casserole dish, alternating with an occasional fresh lemon slice. 
Remove lemon and ginger slices from the remaining simple syrup in the mixing bowl. Pour 1/2 cup of simple syrup over sweet potatoes.

Top with the compound butter, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. At 30 minutes, remove foil and bake an another 30-40 minutes. Check, adding more time if needed. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes and serve. 

More Thanksgiving Side dishes:

Parmesan Creamed Onions

Corn and Squash Casserole

Chilaquiles Corn Bread Stuffing

Toil and Trouble Soup (Roasted Potato Cauliflower Soup)

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble...Hello my little pretties...It's time to get ready for All Hallows Eve. We've waited all year and the time is finally upon us, so fire up your cauldrons and get ready to fill up the kiddies with this mysteriously delicious Toil and Trouble Soup. Don't let the name scare you. You won't be stuck stirring your cauldron all day, it comes together as easily as a wave of your wand. Gorgeous roasted violet cauliflower and two kinds of purple potatoes are blended with sauteed onions, white carrots, garlic and fennel to make a satisfying and beautifully festive Halloween Meal. It's sure to keep the kids warm as they venture out for a night of trick-or-treating. Serve it all by itself or with BLT sandwiches.  I topped my soup with crispy homemade potato chips, sour cream and chives, but feel free add cheddar cheese and bacon bits, just like a loaded Baked Potato Soup.  Enjoy!
                             🎃🎃🎃 6 days until Halloween  🎃🎃🎃

Toil and Trouble Soup (Roasted Potato Cauliflower Soup)

Adapted recipe from wifemamafoodie.com
Serves 4-6

2 purple sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
5-6 purple potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1 small head of purple cauliflower, cut up
olive oil
3 very small purple potatoes for frying, sliced thin
1/2 bulb fennel, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small *white carrot, diced (1/2 cup)
4 cups chicken stock(substitute with vegetable stock)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Penzeys® Parisien Herbs (substitute 1/2 tsp dried chives & 1/4 tsp thyme)
chives (garnish)
fried purple potatoes (garnish)
swirl of sour cream

NOTE*Do not use Orange or purple carrots for this soup. Remember the color wheel in Art class...Orange + Purple = Brown. Trust me on this...my first attempt I used purple carrots...BTW they are orange on the inside...and the soup turned a disturbing shade of brown.  No beautiful violet soup...only earthy ugly brown.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Prepare potatoes and cauliflower and toss with enough olive oil to evenly coat vegetables. Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.

While vegetables are cooking quickly fry some sliced purple potatoes into crunchy chips for garnish. Drain on a paper towel and salt. (I sprinkled these with a gorgeous purple sea salt I picked up at Aldi® last year, but don't sweat it if you don't have purple salt, regular Kosher salt works too.)

In a large dutch oven, add 1 T olive oil, onions, white carrots and fennel and saute until vegetables are tender, ~10 minutes. Add chicken stock and simmer for a few minutes. Add roasted vegetables to the pot and heat for about 2-3 minutes to soften some of the roasted vegetables that might have browned in the oven. Add 1 tsp Parisien Herbes or substitute with 1/2 dried chives and 1/4 tsp thyme.

In batches, transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into bowls and swirl in some sour cream, top with purple chips and chives and Enjoy!

More Halloween recipes to try:

Vampire Slayer Soup

Eye of Newt Stew

Spider Caviar

Vampire Slayer Soup (Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Soup)

It's spring and I'm so excited because it's just another step closer to my favorite season...fall. People always ask me what's with all the Halloween food? The short answer is, it inspires me and it's just plain fun to dream up fun festive dishes that taste amazing. I was inspired to make this soup when I unpacked my kitchen after the remodel and found my stash of plastic vampire teeth in the cookie jar. It was instant inspiration! And the great thing about having a food blog is that I can create my own little slice of fall anytime I want. Who cares that it's spring? I'm channeling fall via Halloween, with this rich and delicious Roasted Garlic Soup which I like to call, Vampire Slayer Soup. Made with lots and lots of roasted garlic and ginger, mellowed with sweet potatoes and carrots and a touch of coconut milk, this soup screams fall with it's bright orange color and it's potent enough to slay the nearest bloodsucker.  Complete protection from vampires and the common cold in a bowl. Enjoy! 
 
🎃🎃🎃Only 170 days until Halloween...in case you were wondering. 🎃🎃🎃

Vampire Slayer Soup (Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Soup)

(recipe adapted from Bound By Food)
Serves 6

2 T olive oil, divided
4 heads of garlic, peeled and roasted
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 medium yellow potato, diced
1 T fresh ginger, peeled, sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 t. fresh thyme leaves
1 t. coriander
1/4 t cayenne
1 can coconut milk
salt to taste
cayenne pepper  (garnish-optional)
grapeseed oil with red food coloring (garnish)
Plastic vampire teeth (garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel garlic cloves and place in foil with 1 T olive oil and fold foil to create a packet. Roast garlic cloves for 30-35 minutes or until cloves are soft and golden brown.  Set aside.

Saute onions, carrots, potatoes, and ginger in olive oil until onions are translucent, ~5 minutes. Add chicken broth and continue to heat until carrots and potatoes are tender, approximately 10 minutes more.  Add roasted garlic, (reserve a few garlic cloves for garnish), thyme, coriander and cayenne pepper and stir. In batches, blend vegetables and transfer back to pot. Add coconut milk and cook 5 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with roasted garlic cloves, cayenne and drizzle with bloody grapeseed oil.

Other Halloween Dishes to try:

Bloody Burger Bites

Love at First Bite Linguini

Rattlesnake Rolls