Moroccan Style Sweet Potato Salad

Marius commented me on Facebook because I usually update about the food I am going to cook or am going to eat…

“Tyrone, I would be very interested in the Moroccan sweet potato recipe…”

or in this case the wonderful food my wifey made!

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes


• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (or more if you like)


• 1 teaspoon cinnamon


• 2 teaspoons harissa or chili garlic sauce (you may improvise w/cayenne)


• 1 lemon, juiced


• 2 teaspoons honey


• salt


• 2 tablespoons coriander


• 1/2 to 1 cup sliced black Kalamata olives (you can use just the plain black, but where’s the fun & taste in that?)


• 1/4 cup capers (to taste)

Directions

1. Boil the sweet potatoes in just enough water to cover.


2. Stir in the ginger, cinnamon, harissa, lemon, honey, and salt and boil for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked but not falling apart.


3. The sauce should be thick, almost syrup-like.


4. If it isn’t, lift out the potatoes and boil the sauce until it is thicker. (sometimes this takes a long time)


5. When the sauce is done, mix in the coriander, olives, and capers (and sweet potatoes if you had to separate them to thicken the sauce).


6. Cool and serve.

Tips/Opts:

• heat up/pan roast your coriander first to create a more in-depth flavor, if its whole coriander grind in a coffee grinder, spice mill, or beat it in a Ziploc bag with a small skillet!  If its ground coriander keep tossing it about till it smells like its cooking, looks like its smoking, & starts to get darker


• If you just want to concentrate on making the sauce without worrying about how mushy the potatoes are going to cook or fall apart, then bake the sweet potatoes whole a day or two before *(350 degrees for about 40 to 60 minutes, depends how big you bought them, poke them with a knife to check…pull them out as soon as they are real close), let them chill and get hard in the refrigerator then peel and cube and pour hot sauce over it and toss gently…this will help cool the dish down to room temp quicker too!

How about a  ‘regular’ potato salad made with sweet potatoes?  Anyone have some good recipes for that?  Keep the mail & comments coming…

Smartpower Duet...not a good Idea!

Since I am just like many of you and feel the tight crunch of getting the most out of every penny I went to Costco to get some items for the kitchen.  While I was there I found this combi blender mini-processor unit by Cuisinart and I thought, "I'll buy this to get by for a while plus it makes sense since I have such a small kitchen right now...".

Nope, never got around to trying out the mini processor because I could never get the blender to even make a frozen coffee drink.  The glass pitcher is too wide with little to NO taper, and once it does QUICKLY narrow into a smaller bowl the blades seem to sit halfway in this small 'bowl' area that the oversize plastic piece screws on to the bottom.  The blades just kicked the ice around like it was a never-ending game of dice.  If you ask me, terrible design.

Do you have one of these, does it work well for you?  It seemed like a good idea and price at the time...I took it back and just used the money to buy my favorite blender, the food processor will have to wait!  (I gave away everything I had in 2007-again!- before I went back to West Africa to work in 2008)

Restocking the 'choice' appliances has not been cheap.  But I expected as much and have the patience to wait for a 'sale' or two.

Free yourself, cook with confidence.

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking: Michael Ruhlman

I am currently reading this book.  I have read all the other books (that are NOT cookbooks) about Chefs that he has written about...that is a recommendation.

For me, it's a reminder of how I started cooking long ago and trying to train myself to be independent of recipes.  It is important to have consistency - so I still develop recipes for personal, commercial, and business use.

If you have any talent for cooking this book can help free you to move beyond the cookbook and experiment.  It can free you to be spontaneous in the kitchen, on the grill, or in any cooking experience that might bog you down looking for a recipe.

If you don't, won't, or can't read thru the big books of Larousse Gastronomique and/or The Professional Chef buy the Elements of Cooking and Ratios by Michael Ruhlman, this should get you started with a pleasurable education to get you cooking daily like a pro in your own kitchen.

Mondavi wine history is enjoyable.

The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty

Being out here in California on a permanent level I wanted to find a few books that combine the area that I am living in and a 'foodie' aspect that would appeal to me.  I found a non-fiction work called 'The House of Mondavi - The rise and fall of an American wine dynasty'.  A very intriguing story of the Mondavi's start in America which later moved to Napa Valley, the rise of the 'empire', the split, and the success and failures that happened along the way.  Heard of Robert Mondavi Reserve, Opus One, Woodbridge, or Charles Krug wines?  All Mondavi family owned at one time.  I thought it was an excellent read and showed that Robert or the 'family' truly pioneered some of the wine tastings and chef oriented open houses which furthered the progress of the California wine culture that thrives today.

Food on the home front...

While I continue my rigorous hunt for a job it hasn't stopped me from having fun in the kitchen.  Ill give you a few meals (maybe not all in the same post) we have eaten at home lately to maybe give you a few ideas...

Last night my wife and I had a green curry with jasmine rice and pan-seared sole.  A couple of thoughts on that:

• Sole is a great fresh fish fillet, although I only recommend thin filets and pan FRYING or deep FRYING it if you're like me, because if you're like me sole can taste mushy in the mouth.  Without giving it that crisp crunchy texture on the outside its not so palatable to me. (feel free to disagree)


• A lot of time a green curry (with coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, stuff of that nature...) or a massaman style has potatoes in it.  BUT I found some acorn squash.  SO I split and seeded them, and cooked them in the oven for about an hour at 350.  Later after letting them cool, I peeled and cubed them, then sauteed them in a pan(in an attempt to 'seal' them to a form before mushing into nothing).  Then added them to the curry, later it was delicious to eat the curry and rice with the heat steadily building in my mouth only to hit a junk of sweet roasted acorn squash to counter the heat.


• The acorn squash also helped to thicken the sauce as it cooked(because of course some of it did break down into the sauce).  I say the taste was great, DO IT!

I have not had the pleasure of experiencing the 99 Ranch Market or Ranch Market till moving to California.  Love it!  Its about a five-minute walk from where I live and I am one of the only Caucasians I ever see in there...but HECK, that place is loaded with all the stuff I always wish I had to do food right, but couldn't find in a regular grocery store.  Mostly considered Asian products with far-reaching 'hands' into India, West Africa, some Spain, Caribbean...probably a few more cross-culturally crossing over each other!  And the produce, meat, rice, noodles & condiment sections put the other grocers to shame!

The Sole my wife had in Thinkers Village, Liberia (in West Africa) will always be the 'unforgettable' fish dinner to my wife Stephanie who had it on our Anniversary last year (possibly with the many fresh fish and sashimi meals we had in Cancun on honeymoon too!).  Delicious!