Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bacon

One of my pet peeves about sweet potatoes is people wanting to put more sweet stuff on them.  Far too many recipes for sweet potatoes call for maple syrup and/or brown sugar all the while forgetting that they are called "sweet" for a reason.  I won't even comment on adding marshmallows to them.  In the long ago, my good wife would cut slices, put butter on them, then a little brown sugar and bake them.  Those were good since they weren't overly sweetened but as our tastes have changed over the years, I think those might be a bit too sweet.


Since this will be the first time in 10+ years that our son will be having Thanksgiving dinner with us the good wife promised him the classics from his childhood.  So in proper fashion, I'll be frying a turkey and making dressing and gravy.  The dressing and gravy I learned how to make from my maternal grandmother.  The good wife will be making green bean casserole, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, and apple pie.  The only thing left is the sweet potatoes.

The base ingredients

The good wife had seen a sweet potato dish posted by a family member that had bacon and pecans that piqued our interest.  Unfortunately, there was no recipe.  She found several that seemed similar though.  The problem is that I don't like nuts in stuff.  I like eating nuts by themselves but not in other food.  So, I came up with my own thing.

Ready for the oven

The dish that resulted from my playing around in the kitchen was a tasty combination of sweet and savory and a contrast in textures.  The hardest part is cubing the sweet potatoes.  This recipe made two hefty servings for the good wife and me.  It would probably serve 4 with another side.


Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bacon


2 sweet potatoes
4 slices bacon
4 cloves of garlic
Fresh Rosemary, about 1.5 Tbs minced
salt
pepper
roasted ground cumin


Cut the sweet potatoes in 1/2 - 1 inch cubes and put in a mixing bowl.  Mince the garlic and Rosemary and add to the sweet potatoes.  Cut the bacon into 1/2 inch lardons.  Cook the bacon in a skillet until just starting to crisp.  Remove bacon from skillet and pour about 2 Tbs of the bacon grease over the sweet potatoes.  Toss to coat everything.  Add a bit more bacon grease if necessary.  Add salt and pepper to taste, I used pinches that would come to about 2 tsp each, tossing to mix as each is added.  Put sweet potatoes on baking sheet in a single layer.  Sprinkle a bit of roast ground cumin over them.  Bake in 385 F oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn the sweet potatoes over.  Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.  Transfer sweet potatoes back to a bowl and add the bacon and toss.  Serve and enjoy.

Fresh from the oven

Thanksgiving's Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bacon

These made a great accompaniment to strip steaks cooked in a cast iron skillet with butter.  The remaining drippings were used to make a flavorful pan sauce to top the steak.  Since sweet potatoes are good for you this is a dish that can take them out of the holiday season. 

Butter fried steak with roasted sweet potatoes

Give them a try and I think you'll become a fan.  As always, you can change the seasonings around to suit your palate.






Uncle T

Fried Turkey Soup

Yes, soup made with fried turkey.  This came about from needing to use the remains of the Thanksgiving turkey. 


We really like fried turkey and don't reserve it for holiday meals only.  There are plenty of tutorials on turkey frying on Youtube if you've never done one and want to try.  I don't usually inject my turkey though many recipes call for it.  I just rub the skin with the seasoning of my choosing which happened to be Uncle T's seasoning blend #1 which is a Cajun style blend.  Give fried turkey a shot if you've never had/done one.

Fried Turkey, ready for slicing

The first part of this soup came from using the bones for making a rich broth.  With the breast meat, wings, and legs removed for slicing you have most of the bones in one place.  I use the pressure cooker to make broth now, it's much quicker that way.  The back, keel bone, wing tips, and thigh bones went into making the broth along with a couple of cups of water.  The little bit of meat left on the bones got picked off once the broth was done for use in the soup.


The only other ingredients used, other than left over turkey, were kale and mushrooms.  A simple, rich, tasty soup to drive the chill away.

Fried Turkey Soup

Fried Turkey Soup


4 cups turkey broth
12 oz left over fried turkey
8 oz mushrooms
4 - 6 cups Kale, chopped
olive oil
salt
pepper
Cajun seasoning


Put turkey broth in a pan and bring to a simmer.  Chop turkey into bite size pieces.  Slice mushrooms.  Add kale to the turkey broth.  Using a little olive oil, sautee the mushrooms (seasoned with salt and pepper) until lightly browned.  Put the mushrooms in the pan with the kale.  Add a bit more oil to the skillet and do a quick fry on the turkey.  Season the turkey with some of the Cajun seasoning.  Once the turkey is hot, put it in the pan with the rest of the soup.  Let simmer for another 15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy.  This recipe serves two if that is all that is being eaten.  It could feed 4 if you have some crusty bread or something to accompany the soup.


Give this a try.  It sure beats eating yet another turkey sandwich.

Roast Chicken and Kohlrabi Fritters

Kohlrabi?  Really?  I'd never heard of Kohlrabi until I had been in the Army for several years.  It just wasn't part of the small town Southern foodway with which I was familiar.  Even after learning what it was and how to inspect it we still didn't eat it since we didn't know what to do with it.  A friend grew some in his garden this past Spring and that got me thinking about it.  We were at the nursery to buy cole crop sets for the Fall garden when I came across some Kohlrabi.  The 4 experimental Kohlrabi were harvested last week and two of them were cooked for supper last night.

Kohlrabi is related to cabbage.  Instead of forming a head the base of the stalk swells to a globe shape.  They are best harvested when the globe is 3 - 4 inches in diameter.  The leaves and stalks can also be eaten and can be prepared like you would cabbage or collard greens.  The globe can be eaten raw, steamed, stir fried, and roasted.  Basically you can use it like you would use any root vegetable.

Roast chicken from what I hear seems to be one of those things that people are hesitant to try.  Good roast chicken is a wondrous thing but the great fear is plating up a dried out chicken for family and friends.  Now, with every grocery store and big box store having grab and go rotisserie chicken there is even less incentive to roast one at home.  The downside of this is lesser quality in exchange for convenience.  I'm here to tell you that roast chicken can be done in an hour with excellent results.  Moreover, you can get that excellent result with minimal ingredients.

Browned and ready for the oven

As with all dishes, getting a good bird to start with will let you end with a great product.  You can go the free range organic route if you so choose but to my mind it is not necessary.  Just don't get some brand nobody ever heard of.  Give the bird a good look and make sure it is well fleshed and the skin is white or white with a slightly yellow cast.  I can't prove it, but I believe you'll end up with a better result if you use a fresh chicken rather than a previously frozen bird.

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken
salt
pepper
4 Tbs oil
1 large white onion
4 cloves garlic

Dry the chicken inside and out.  Let the chicken come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.  Liberally season both inside and outside with salt and pepper being sure to rub them into the skin.  Cut the onion in half and slice each half into 1/4 inch slices and separate.  Slice the garlic cloves and add to the onion.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Put 2 Tbs oil in a cast iron, preferably, skillet and get hot.  Place the chicken in the skillet back down and brown for a few minutes.  When it is browned to your liking, turn the chicken to one side and brown.  Do the same for the other side and then the breast.  Once the chicken is browned on all sides remove it from the skillet.  Add oil to the skillet if necessary and add the onion and garlic.  Stir them around and start to sweat them.  Put the chicken on top of the onion and garlic breast side up and put in the 425 F oven.  Check the temperature in the thigh after 35 minutes.  Once the thigh reads 168 F remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes.  Cut into the desired serving size and enjoy.  The onions and pan drippings can be used to cover the chicken when plated or they can serve as the base for a good gravy.

Hot from the oven

Kohlrabi Fritters

2 Kohlrabi
1 egg
1/4 - 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
1/4 - 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
oil

Peel and shred the Kohlrabi with the box grater into a mixing bowl.  Add the egg, flour, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.  Cover the bottom of a skillet with oil and get it hot.  Put spoonfuls of the fritter mixture in the skillet and flatten slightly.  Cook till brown, about 3 minutes, and flip.  When that side is brown remove the fritter to a cooling rack to drain any excess oil.  Repeat until all the fritters are done.  This fed my good wife and me.

A Kohlrabi and a bowl of shredded Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi fritters ready to eat

Both of these were part of an excellent supper that only took about an hour.  A side benefit of roasting a chicken this way is that there is time to flour and fry up the heart, liver, and gizzard to eat as appetizers.  Remember, don't forget to eat the organ meats.

Roast chicken, Kohlrabi fritters, and boiled okra

Give these two recipes a try and let me know what you think.  The fritters made me glad we bought 6 more sets for the garden.  Try some unusual vegetables and see what you think.  Google is your friend when trying to find how to use them. 

Uncle T

Fermented Jalapeno Peppers and Hot Sauce

I've written before about home fermentation and making sour kraut and kimchi.  I've decided to expand my fermenting endeavor and do new things.  After all, it only takes minimal ingredients and time.

No special equipment is required for this but there is lots available if you want to get into it in a big way.  They make stoneware crocks with weights and water seals that are rather pricy and on the cheap end there are caps to fit mason jars with air locks on them.  Since my good wife cans much of the produce of our garden I simply use mason jars and the regular lids.

Since Uncle T likes his hot sauce and has come up with a few recipes I added my own twist to a technique I found online.

Fresh jalapenos from the garden I believe work best but the next best source would be a farmer's market.  Produce in the stores typically are well cleaned prior to shipment so the natural bacteria required for fermentation have been removed or greatly reduced in number.  Another reason I prefer to grow my own is that the nursery I get my sets from carries a variety that is a bit hotter than those found in stores.

A fresh picking of Jalapenos from the garden

I didn't count how many jalapenos went into the jar.  It wouldn't matter because it all depends on the size of your peppers.  To prepare the jalapenos all you have to do it pull off the stem and cap then crush the jalapeno with the heel of your hand.  Crushing them isn't necessary but it will let you fit more in the jar and let the brine get to the interior of the pepper.

2 quarts of Jalapenos merrily fermenting away

All you have to put in is peppers but other things can be added to increase the depth of flavor of the final product.  This is your place to experiment.

Fermented Jalapeno Peppers

15 - 20 Jalapeno peppers
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1.5 Tbs black peppercorns
1/2 Tbs mustard seed
1/2 Tbs coriander seed
2 cups water
1 Tbs salt

Take the stem and cap off the Jalapenos.  Put the garlic, peppercorns, mustard seed, and coriander seed in the quart jar.  Start putting the Jalapenos into the jar.  They will fit better if you crush them a bit prior placing in the jar.  Leave a 1/2 inch of space below the rim of the jar.  Fill the jar with the brine all the way to the rim.  Put the lid on and lightly tighten the ring.  Let sit at room temperature anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months.  Start tasting at 3 weeks and continue until the desired level of sourness has been reached. 

Make sure the jar is in a cake pan since the gas formed by the fermentation process will push some of the brine out of the jar.  You may need to go back in a few days and add more brine to the jar.

These can be eaten just as they are as pickled Jalapenos.  If you want to stop the fermentation process put the jar in the refrigerator when you are happy with the results.

Fermented Jalapeno Hot Sauce

Strain the brine from the jar.  Put the Jalapenos and garlic in a food processor or the Vitamix like I did.  Add a bit of the brine and puree.  Add more brine to get to the desired consistency.  This makes a hot sauce that has both heat and excellent flavor.

Straining the brine

Freshly pureed fermented hot sauce

Some people will puree the peppers prior to starting the ferment.  Using this method means you'll have to open the jar and stir the mixture.  This seems like needless work to me.  Many times people using this method will have to strain the mixture to get a smooth hot sauce.  To me, fermenting is and should be a low effort method of preservation that yields great results.

Give fermentation a try.  You'll like the results and you'll get the benefit of natural probiotics.

Uncle T