Sweet Potato and Avocado Pasta with Dinner Rolls

Equipment

• Dinner Rolls:
• 2 6-part muffin pans
• large mixing bowl
• wisk
• flour sifter
• Sweet Potato and Avocado Pasta:
• 3 qt pot
• 10in (25cm) frying pan
• cutting board

Ingredients

• Dinner Rolls:
• 1pkg active dry yeast (2-1/4 tsp.)
• 1cup lukewarm water
• 1 egg
• 1/4cup sugar
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4cup oil
• 3cup flour
• Sweet Potato and Avocado Pasta:
• 3-4cups fusili pasta
• 1-2 small-medium sweet potatoes
• 1-2 ripe avocados
• 1/4 medium onion
• 1/4lb whole crimini mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1tsp Italian spice mix (1:1:1 oregano:marjoram:thyme)
• 2Tbsp olive oil
• 2Tbsp butter

Prep

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Heat 2qts water in pot to boiling
3. Make dinner roll dough
1. Dissolve yeast in water in mixing bowl
2. Add: egg, sugar, salt, oil, 1-1/2cup flour. Beat with wisk until smooth.
3. Add remaining flour. Beat with wisk until smooth.
4. Grease muffin pans
5. Fill muffin pan cups half way and let rise 5-10min (until double).
6. Clean mushrooms:
1. moisten a paper towel and rub dirt off of mushrooms
2. separate stems from caps
7. Chop:
1. sweet potato into approx. 2cm cubes
2. onion coarsely
3. mushroom stems finely
8. Slice mushroom caps
9. Slice avocado
10. Crush garlic cloves with flat side of knife. Remove skin. Chop finely.

Cook

1. Bake dinner rolls 15min.
2. Pasta
1. boil per package directions
2. drain
3. Sweet potato
1. Heat olive oil and butter in pan over med-hi heat
2. Add garlic, onion, mushroom stems.  Saute 3-min, stirring frequently.
3. Add sweet potato, mushroom caps, Italian spice mix. Saute 3-min, stirring frequently.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover and simmer 5min, stir, continue simmering until sweet potatoes are soft.

Eat

1. Plate pasta and top with sweet potato saute.  Garnish with sliced avocado.
2. Butter dinner rolls and serve on the side.

Sweet Potato Chili

Equipment:

• 3qt pot
• cutting board
• knife
• can opener

Ingredients

• 2 small-medium sized sweet potatoes
• 1 16oz can of red kidney beans
• 1 16oz can of black beans
• 1 4oz can of roasted green chiles
• 1-2 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 3 Tbsp canola oil

Prep

1. Cut and Chop:
1. Cube the sweet potatoes.  Make approx. 1-2cm cubes.
2. Chop the bell pepper
3. If using fresh garlic, chop

Cook

1. Soften:
1. Heat canola oil in the pot over Med-Hi.
2. Add salt, garlic, sweet potato, and chiles
3. Cook with occasional stirring for 2-3min
4. Add bell pepper.
5. Cook with occasional stirring for 2-3min
2. Stew:
1. Add beans (fluid and all)
2. Reduce heat to Medium and simmer 15min.

Eat.

Wings - Part 2

To quote Dexter: "Tonight's the night, it has to be."

Lisa transferred the baking powder enhanced wings from their calm cool repose onto parchment paper and into a fiery 450 degree F oven while I went to the store to get condiments.  Here they are on their way to crackling crispy goodness:

 

 Forty minutes later (with a turn in the middle) - golden brown perfection!

Here's a close-up of a couple of these crispy beauties:

All that was left to do was add a bit more heat:

Note, the orange glow - first concocted on the first wing night I had in graduate school and clinically proven to warm the gut for hours on end (sorry Lisa).

All that was left was to add some chopped carrots and celery (as is tradition), and something to make you forget the heat - home made breadsticks - and voila!

A respectable recreation of a meal we previously could only get in Davis, CA.  Sorry Steve's Pizza, we'll take it from here.

Let me just say, these wings came out way better than I expected and certainly satisfied my lingering craving.  Paired with a couple beers (Copper Hook for Lee, Dunkelweizen for Lisa) - sheer culinary bliss.  Lisa's quote for the evening: "Smells like a pizzeria in here ... that's not a bad thing".

Another thing worth mentioning, the chicken alone (sans heat) tastes excellent.  Lia certainly enjoyed her share.

The final word for this post: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Wings - Part 1

The Superbowl has come and gone and this year its passing was without a mouthwatering buffalo wing aftertaste.

I'd gladly make a batch of fat^4 but, the necessary 2-4qts of 400 degree F oil isn't exactly toddler friendly.  Plus, we probably only got about 4 tbsp of vegetable oil to our name at the moment.

I found this recipe for baked wings that are supposedly just as good as deep fried ones based on an exhaustive study.  Two weeks later, the craving for spicy fat laden indulgence has yet to subside, so I'm giving it a go.

Bought 4lbs of frozen wings at Fred-Meyer. There were 27 wings - a mixture of flats and drummettes -  in the bag I bought.  Anticipating that Lisa and I probably wouldn't be able to consume anywhere near that quantity, thawed a dozen at room temp for about 5hrs (while we took naps, made dinner - see previous post, and put Lia to bed).

Per the recipe's instructions, I dried the wings with paper towels:

The prep station for the absolutely necessary baking powder toss:

And now we wait (8-18hrs according to the recipe) ...

Ground beef and coconut rice

Tools:

• frying pan
• rice cooker

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cups rice (dry)
• 1 can light coconut milk + water to bring to 4 cups
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Make rice as normal, replacing coconut milk for most of the water.

Heat oil over medium high heat.
Brown the ground beef in the oil.  Add salt along the way.
Drain.

Add sesame oil, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, and bell pepper.
Saute for about 2-3 minutes.  Add sugar along the way.

Add green onion and cilantro and cook until bell peppers are done.
Serve over rice.

Add Sambal Oelek for preferred amount of spice.