Asiago Sweet Potatoes

The holiday season is underway and I am happy to introduce my newest favorite side dish: Asiago Sweet Potatoes. Oh hello crispy cheesy slightly sweet but mostly savory oniony potatoey deliciousness!

In my family, we alternate hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas between my parents/sisters and my aunt/ uncle/cousins. This year Thanksgiving is at my house and I will be home! The brainstorming emails have already begun – Sister1: We should make this recipe? Mama: Or maybe this? Me:  OR ALL OF THEM! (Apply that train of logic to all aspects of the meal).

One thing my family does not do is sweet potatoes. I never even tried them until college. (West Campus dining hall sweet potato fries – woot!)

Perhaps it’s because I’m late to the potato-party, or maybe because they are objectively weird (a side dish or a dessert? I can’t tell!), but I don’t think I’ll ever be on board for the traditional marshmallow-y sweet potato casserole.

Layer 1.

But I do like them! And last weekend I was invited to my first holiday meal of the season: a combination birthday party and pre-Thanksgiving dinner (entitled “Birthsgiving”…don’t overthink it). I had a CSA bag full of sweet potatoes and a craving for something cheesy, thus TA-DA! Baked, tin-foiled, and transported –  this sweet potatoey situation I concocted is absolutely delicious!!!

I used my mandolin to evenly slice a mix of sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and onions. Do as I say and not as I do: WATCH YOUR FINGERS!

Final layer.

Since this was supposed to be a veggie side dish, I went pretty light on the cheese. You could definitely add more, and/or some mozzarella too for extra cheesiness. The herbs are up to you – I went with thyme, but sage would go well with traditional stuffing/Thanksgiving flavors. Or you could make it a bit spicy and do paprika and chili powder.

Asiago Sweet Potatoes

Printable recipe. 

Ingredients: 

• 9-inch square baking dish coated in about 1 tablespoon olive oil, or sprayed
• 2 medium/large sweet potatoes, cut into ¼-inch slices
• 1 medium/large Yukon gold potato, cut into ¼-inch slices
• ½ large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 oz Asiago cheese, grated or thinly sliced
• ¼ cup white wine or chicken broth (or veggie broth)
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried sage
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Build three layers in this order: potatoes (mixing sweet and regular), onion, grated cheese, herbs, salt and pepper.
3. Evenly pour wine or broth over the top and cover with foil.
4. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and finish baking another 5-10 minutes or until top begins to brown and when you insert a knife in the middle the potatoes feel soft.
5. Serve hot or at room temperature.

YUM. 

Printable recipe. 

Ricotta Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Tomatoes

Real food alert!

Yesterday I mentioned that I made mac and cheese for my house dinner. I had a lot of dairy in my fridge, so milky cheesy creamy pasta was the obvious solution.

I invented the following recipe, and it turned out quite well! I don’t know why I haven’t added ricotta to mac and cheese before – it made it extra creamy and delicious. It’s super simple and you don’t need to add the extras if you don’t want them (though I have a hard time comprehending not wanting caramelized onions and tomatoes).

Ricotta Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Tomatoes

Caramelized Onions

4 yellow onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt

1. Peel and thinly slice the onions.

2. Add oil to a heavy bottomed sauté pan and heat until the oil is shimmering.

3. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt over the onions.

4. Let cook for 30 minutes to an hour more, stirring every few minutes. As soon as the onions start sticking to the pan, let them stick a little and brown, but then stir them before they burn. The trick is to let them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won't brown), but not so long so that they burn.

You can cook the onions in advance. If you do, cool and store them in the fridge.

Mac and Cheese

½ lb pasta

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

12 oz ricotta cheese

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (reserve ½ cup for sprinkling over the top)

5 large tomatoes, sliced

Preheat oven to 375*.

1. Prepare pasta al dente according to box directions.

2. While the pasta is cooking: In a medium sized pot, melt butter. Add flour and wisk for 1 minute over medium heat to make a roux.

3. Wisk in 1 cup milk and heat. Add the second cup milk, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and heat until just before it simmers.

4. Add ricotta and cheddar cheese and stir on the stove for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

5. Mix pasta and sauce and pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

6. Spread caramelized onions over the mac and cheese, and top with tomato slices. Sprinkle with reserved cheese.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until top begins to brown. If you want a crispier top, turn on the broiler for last couple minutes of cooking.

Enjoy! And I strongly suggest you chase your mac and cheese with a slice of Zingy Orange Ginger Cake!

I used to fear blue cheese. Cheese is a process of separating curds from whey and aging milk. So blue cheese, in all its pungent splendor, is (dare I write the word on a food blog? I do…) a very special kind of mold.

When I was little, my parents took my sisters and I to picnic at The Cheese Factory on the weekends. We fed the ducks in the pond, picked blackberries, and “rode” the ancient abandoned tractor. And at some point in the afternoon, those of us brave (or foolish) enough to go with my mama, would tour the factory.

I say “factory,” but it is far more farmhouse than industrial. Visitors step inside the cool dark stone house and are immediately hit with the odor of large quantities of aging milk. The tour guide describes the process, from sourcing the milk to adding the rennet to aging the cheeses and finally wrapping them up for distribution.

The tour always ended with my mama buying discs of breakfast cheese (Sister2’s favorite), brie (Sister1’s preference), and camembert (mine!) and eating them with crackers outside. 

It wasn’t until much later that I embraced the awesomeness that is blue cheese. My palate needed time to mature into the coffee consuming, dark chocolate devouring, strong flavor seeker that I am today. And now I just can’t get enough of blue cheese – sprinkled on salads, grilled into burgers, baked inside tarts, and now…in crackers!

The Newbie made these crackers/shortbread when she visited to run Cherry Blossom. This is an Ina Garten recipe, so clearly it’s going to be awesome! The original recipe makes a lot, so we halved it. Be careful with the salt though! I think it might be best to omit it completely, since blue cheese is pretty salty on its own.

Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers

Ingredients

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

8 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 12 ounces with rind), at room temperature

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and Stilton together for 1 minute, or until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, salt and pepper and mix until it's in large crumbles, about 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix until combined.

Dump the dough onto a floured board, press it into a ball, and roll into a 12-inch long log. Brush the log completely with the egg wash. 

Spread the walnuts in a square on a cutting board and roll the log back and forth in the walnuts, pressing lightly, and distributing them evenly on the outside of the log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 4 days.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the log 3/8ths-inch thick with a small, sharp knife and place the crackers on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 22 minutes until very lightly browned. Rotate the pan once during baking. Cool and serve at room temperature.

We spread them with fresh ricotta. Because why not add more cheese to your cheese?