Tag Archives: pancetta

Sweet Potato Intrigue

June 14, 2011
11

Making this weeks recipe was a culinary adventure.  It began with a casual search for recipes.  While browsing blogs and recipe sites, I came across this beautiful picture.  The vibrant colors immediately grabbed my attention and my mouth began to water….but there was no recipe attached.  I faced a bit of a conundrum – a dish this appetizing just begs to be made, but where to begin? 

I knew I had to get to the kitchen right away and get to work. I printed the pic to use as a reference and spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen making up variations based on the image.  What a blast!  Figuring everything out was so much fun!

First I had to decide was this a salad or a hash?  It didn’t really appear to have a dressing, so I went with the latter.

Next, what are the main ingredients? Obviously the dish contains tomatoes, avocados and sweet potatoes, but what about spices?  That was all up to me.  After a few tries, I decided that New Mexican Chili Powder, Cumin, and Garlic really worked well together. I also added a dash of cayenne to kick it up a notch. I toyed with adding some cubed bacon, but eventually decided to keep it vegetarian. 

I love roasted garlic and roasted bell peppers, so I added both to the dish.  I considered putting the sweet potatoes on the grill to continue the roasted theme, but since it was raining cats and dogs, I opted to pan-fry instead. The result was a creamy soft sweet potato with a wonderful crust on the outside. Call it fate, call it karma, but I don’t think it could have worked out any better.

I added the avocados and tomatoes last to preserve their cool refreshing essence. A squirt of lime juice added a bit of acidity (and kept the avocado nice and green). Below is my final recipe. Give it a try, and be sure to let me know what you think. 

Pan Fried Sweet Potato Avocado Hash

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1 small red onion diced
1 Medium Vine Ripe Tomato Cubed
1 Medium Avocado Cubed
1 Roasted Bell Pepper, peeled and chopped (homemade or from a jar)
1 tsp roasted garlic (homemade or jarred)
1/8 tsp cumin
Dash Cayenne Pepper
1/4 tsp New Mexican Chile Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Cilantro
Fresh Lime Juice

Microwave Sweet potatoes until almost done.  Cut into cubes and set aside.  In a frying pan, sweat onion with a little olive oil until tender.  Add Sweet potatoes, garlic, bell peppers, and spices.  Cook until potatoes are lightly browned and are tender.  Add Tomatoes. Toss for 30 seconds and remove from heat. Toss mixture with avocados, squirt with fresh lime, and garnish with cilantro.

And yet another update

April 30, 2010
15

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we’ve been obliged to revisit our winning recipes. To ensure the integrity of the contest and to be fair to all contestants, we have selected a new list of winners.

The $2,000 grand prize goes to Laura Curtis, The Bicycle Chef, for her original Sweet Potato Burger. Laura combined mashed sweet potato with a bit of ground turkey to create a textured burger packed with sweet potato flavor. Congratulations on your prize, Laura!

Our three finalist entries, each winning $400, include Mandy Heaston, our Gourmet Mom-on-the-Go, for her creamy Sweet Potato Sunshine Sorbet; Patty Guttu, the Gypsy Goddess, for her sweet n’ spicy Chipotle Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Chorizo and Chris and Amy White, from A Couple in the Kitchen, for their rich and savory Sweet Potato & Pancetta Gratin. These finalists’ recipes were easy to prepare and introduced new flavors to the sweet potato. Lemon, mint, chipotle or gruyere, you name it, it worked! Congratulations to all!


As you can see, the judges had plenty of winning recipes to choose from and we hope they’ve inspired you to create new sweet potato dishes of your own. Thank you all for your participation.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!!

March 8, 2009
16

The first sign of spring is here! No, its not bluebirds. Its not daffodils, either. Its … Daylight Savings time! (And I hope you all remembered to change the batteries in you Smoke Alarms and CO detectors.) Maybe you think I am a bit overexcited about the time change, but frankly I am tired of sunsets of 5:30 in the evening. The official start of spring may be about two weeks off, but warmer weather and longer days has me in a spring kind of mood!

Since the weather has been so nice, I took a trip to my favorite farmer’s market. I found a bounty of fresh, delicious and sophisticated ingredients. In fact, all of the ingredients for this weeks recipe were purchased there. This dish is a delightfully modern twist on mashed sweet potatoes. From Southern France, to Italy to, New Orleans to western North Carolina and everywhere in between – this is a southern favorite. If its got Pancetta, you know it is going to be good!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onion and Pancetta

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Ingredients

  • 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2 inch pieces (about 3 medium)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 ounces pancetta, finely diced
  • 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese (2 oz)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions

  1. Boil sweet potatoes in large saucepan of boiling salted water over medium-high heat 15-20 minutes or until very tender.
  2. Drain sweet potatoes; return to saucepan.
  3. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot.
  4. Add pancetta; cook 2-3 minutes or until pancetta begins to brown.
  5. Add onion; cook 15-20 minutes or until onions are caramelized, stirring frequently. Adjust heat, if necessary, to prevent onions from browning too quickly.
  6. Add vinegar; stir, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet.
  7. Over very low heat, mash sweet potatoes.
  8. Add mascarpone, salt and pepper.
  9. Stir in onion mixture.

Note: You can use bacon if you don’t have pancetta available. Just cook the bacon in a medium pot of boiling water 1 minute. Drain and rinse until cool. Blanching helps remove some of the smoky flavor from the bacon.