Oct 25, 2010

Fall Royal Foodie Joust

It’s a Fall
FoodieBlogRoll
Royal Foodie Joust
hosted by the Leftover Queen!

This month's ingredients are:

Sweet Potatoes         Garlic         Citrus

* Entries are due by noon EST on the 1st of each month.
* Voting takes place on the forum from the 1st through the 5th.
*
If you'd like to participate, see the Royal Foodie Joust link above for details. (click on the "Foodie Event: Royal Foodie Joust!" thread)
I wasn’t sure if I’d have a dish to link up this time. My first attempt did not go well. At all.  When I closed my eyes, I pictured beautiful sweet potato gnocchi drizzled with a sauce of brown butter, garlic, Chinese five spice powder, and fresh squeezed orange juice and topped with fried sage leaves.
That idea never made it past the gnocchi part. I’ve made gnocchi before, just not with sweet potatoes. I don’t ever plan to attempt it with sweet potatoes again. The End.  Yes it was that bad.
But I did end up throwing together a side dish that I know I’ll make again (The Husband already asked me to).


Fall Sweet Potato Toss
Grilled sweet potatoes tossed with a sauce made of brown butter, garlic, pecans, dried cranberries, orange juice, and green onion

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Fall Sweet Potato Toss
from Ms. enPlace
3 small to medium sweet potatoes
olive oil
3-4 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, smashed
rounded ¼ cup chopped pecans
1-2 Tbsp coarsely chopped dried cranberries
juice of 1 ½ oranges
1-2 Tbsp chopped green onion
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill. Scrub the sweet potatoes and pierce with a fork. Place on a microwave safe plate. Microwave on high for 10-12 minutes, or until almost cooked through. Turn halfway through cooking. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Cut each potato into wedges and brush each wedge with olive oil. Grill sweet potatoes about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a large bowl or platter and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, add butter to a skillet along with the smashed garlic clove. Cook on low heat, melting the butter and infusing it with garlic. When butter is almost brown, remove the garlic and add the pecans and cranberries. Cook to heat through and finish browning the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the orange juice, green onion, and salt and pepper.

Pour the butter sauce over the sweet potatoes and toss gently to coat.

5-6 servings

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like the gnocchi traumatized you big time! The dish you did come up with sounds great to me.

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  2. ohhh, that is just too pretty looking! I love the pecans!

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  3. I've tagged you in an internet game. Don't feel obligated to participate if it's not your thing.
    http://bettycrapper.blogspot.com/2010/10/tag-youre-it.html

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  4. I'm sorry to hear about the gnocchi. I've fought with them too and I never win. Saying that, I think that your second attempt with the sweet potatoes, the sweet potato toss, is ten times better than the gnocchi. I'm loving the grill marks on the sweet potatoes and I think the entire recipe is stunning, with lots of great flavor and texture going on. I can understand why your husband wants you to make it again. In fact, it would be a great dish to have on Thanksgiving, which makes it a great contender in the foodie joust.

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  5. What a gorgeous dish! Thanks so much for participating and best of luck in the Joust!

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Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments.