Last week I was blessed to enjoy a couple of days off to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. Everyone contributed to the holiday meal in some way, and one of my contributions was my sweet potato casserole.

For me, Thanksgiving dinner isn’t a Thanksgiving dinner without sweet potatoes on the table. Sweet potatoes were so well liked in my family I can’t really remember that we ever had any left over from a meal whether it was Thanksgiving or not. Imagine the panic and shock I experienced when my husband, Bob, told me he did not like sweet potatoes as I planned the very first Thanksgiving meal we would eat together as a married couple.

“Um, how can we have Thanksgiving dinner without sweet potatoes?” I thought to myself. It just did not compute for me.

Determined that I could figure out a way to make anyone enjoy eating just about anything, I kept sweet potatoes on the menu. Though I can’t remember the details of what he didn’t like about his previous encounters with sweet potatoes, I do remember giving him the third degree to find out what didn’t work for him in the past. I am blessed with a wonderful husband who is willing to try anything I make, and that year we had an enjoyable dinner which resulted in Bob’s realizing sweet potatoes really can be good.

My presentation of this classic fall and winter dish has changed a bit over the years, but one thing remains the same - this recipe has converted many non-sweet potato eaters. It’s great not only with the thanksgiving turkey, but also with roast duck, pork or my spice rubbed chicken. You can also use any leftovers to make sweet potato ravioli.

This recipe makes plenty for a crowd. Halve it and bake it in an 8″ x 8″ pan if you’re making it for a family dinner.

Sweet Potato Casserole

For the potatoes:

• 4 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes 
• 2/3 c. brown sugar 
• 1/4 c. butter, softened* 
• 4 eggs* 
• 2/3 c. milk*
• 2 t. vanilla 
• 1 t. salt

For the topping: 

• 2/3 c. brown sugar 
• 1/3 c. flour 
• 3 T. chilled butter* 
• 1/2 c. pecans 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Scrub potatoes and prick all over with a fork.

Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until a skewer is easily pushed into the center, about 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool and peel. This step is easily done the day ahead. 

Combine all topping ingredients in a food processor and pulse together until somewhat crumbly. Set aside.

Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine brown sugar, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and baked sweet potatoes in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until potatoes are completely mashed and mixture of thoroughly combined.

Spread potatoes in prepared baking dish and sprinkle pecan mixture all over the top. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until potatoes are completely hot and topping is crunchy.

*Notes: 
To make this casserole completely vegan use vegan spread in place of the butter and soy or rice milk in place of the milk.

In place of the eggs, combine 1/4 c. ground flax meal and 3/4 c. water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick. Allow to cool. This step may be done the day ahead along with the baked sweet potatoes.

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Eggs are a staple item in the refrigerator of many homes. Who would ever have thought that buying eggs should require more thought than where to get the best bargain? I’m sure you have wondered what the difference is between all the confusing labels on egg cartons and if they really make the eggs worth paying a king’s ransom compared to plain old Grade A Large eggs. What is free range, cage free, organic or vegetarian fed? Organic is always good, right? People who eat a vegetarian diet seem to be healthy enough, so shouldn’t chickens benefit from being vegetarian too? None of us want the chickens to suffer, so cage free should be good enough, shouldn’t it?

Before I give you the low down on getting the best price for eggs at major food retailers in Columbus, Ohio, I thought I’d spend some time clearing up the confusion.

First let’s focus on how the chickens are raised. Typical labels on egg cartons found in the grocery store will say either cage free of free range. Free range means the chickens have access to the outdoors and are not raised in battery cages. There is no standard for what kind of outdoor access this is though. Cage free means just that. The chickens were not raised in battery cages, but did not necessarily have any outdoor access.

Another term not likely to be seen in the grocery store, but one you may have heard is “pasture raised”. Pasture raised means the chickens and the eggs are produced the way nature intended. The animals are allowed free access to the outdoors where they can scratch and peck in the grass for insects and anything else they want to eat. Some will argue that use of the term pasture raised is not regulated, therefore how can one be sure of the hen’s lifestyle? I’ll address that a bit more later.

In addition to living conditions, how hens are fed and whether or not the eggs are organic appears on egg cartons too. If the eggs are labeled as UDSA Organic the chickens must be cage free, given no antibiotics and fed with feed from crops grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Vegetarian fed hens are never given feed that contains animal byproducts. I don’t condone the use of animal byproducts in feed for chickens or any other living creature, but feel it should be noted that chickens are not vegetarian by nature. Like any other bird they enjoy eating insects as well as seeds and grain.

A couple other terms you might encounter on an egg carton are Omega-3 and pasteurized. Omega-3 eggs claim to have a higher percentage of Omega-3 fatty acids as compared to eggs produced without the Omega-3 enhancing diet fed to some hens. Pasteurized eggs have been heated to just below the coagulation point for a period of time to destroy illness causing bacteria. These are recommended for any recipe that calls for eggs to remain uncooked such as Caesar salad dressing or mayonnaise.

By now, I’m sure everything is clear as mud for you! My recommendations for what kind of eggs to buy is in the following order: pasture raised, organic, cage free.

The caveat with pasture raised is that they can be hard to find and they are often quite expensive when you do find them in the grocery store. Whole Foods market in Columbus carries pastured eggs produced by farms in Central Ohio, but they do come at a price. I recommend finding a good source where you can buy directly from the farmer. Several years ago, I bought pastured eggs from a friend for $1.00 per dozen. Back then, I had no idea how good I had it! If you stick with it and do your homework, you should be able to find pasture raised eggs at prices comparable to or less than buying organic eggs at the grocery store. www.localharvest.org is a great way to start your search for pasture raised eggs. The added bonus of buying eggs directly from the farmer is that you can verify how the chickens are treated and see for yourself if they do indeed have unlimited access to the outdoors.

If you can’t find pasture raised eggs in your community or simply aren’t compelled to make the effort the easiest to find best price for organic eggs in Columbus, Ohio is at Giant Eagle where you can get large, organic eggs for $3.09 per dozen. If you are a regular customer at North Market, downtown Columbus, North Market Poultry and Game has eggs for $3.00 per dozen.

One last note: I don’t feel compelled to eat eggs for their supposed Omega-3 value. There are many better ways to increase Omega-3 consumption, but that is a discussion for another day.

As you might have guessed from my lack of blog posts over the past month, life has been a bit busy for me lately. I’ve recently gone through some schedule changes and the adjustment period is over, I think! Aside from needing to take advantage of the last bit of gardening weather for the season and getting bogged down with canning some excess produce we’ve been blessed to receive, I have been chipping away at some new recipes a little at a time.

Sometimes the process of creating and testing recipes can be exciting, discouraging, enlightening and funny all at the same time. The best thing about failures and near (or total) disasters in the kitchen is that they provide helpful information. Namely in the form of what not to do or what does not work.

Yesterday was one of those experiences for me. Any of you who know me well or have spent more than just a little time with me in the kitchen know I do not proclaim to remotely excel at baking. I do have a number of desserts which I have become known for and do get the urge to knead some bread dough every now and then, but these do not amount to actually being a pastry chef.

Eight years ago when my husband and I were married, the country club where our service and reception were held served these amazing chocolate chocolate chip muffins as part of our brunch. I had asked the club manager for the source or recipe for these muffins, but he never responded. Every now and then I think about these muffins and contemplate trying to duplicate the recipe (as if I could remember exactly what they tasted like all these years later . . . ). Yesterday was the day I decided to start my quest for the perfect chocolate chocolate chip muffin. I thought I would start out by adjusting my chocolate cake recipe. This is a solid tried and true recipe for me. I figured if I could make it a bit more dense all I’d need to do was add chocolate chips and I’d be done. Easy, right?

Well, maybe not so easy. Being the non-pastry chef that I am, I made the silly assumption that if a box of cake flour says to simply add two additional tablespoons of flour for every one cup of all purpose flour called for in a recipe all would be just fine. For starters I don’t know what possessed me to use cake flour when I always use all purpose flour in this recipe. I think it was because I wanted to get rid of the hardly ever used cake flour taking up space in my pantry. Whatever the reason, I bet several of  you already knew using cake flour was not appropriate for this application and could have saved me from my fate of flat, unattractive, cakey muffins. For those of you who didn’t already know cake flour does not work well for muffins, think of this as your tip of the day.

Hopefully I’ll have the courage to make an attempt at the chocolate chocolate chip muffins again. In the meantime if any of you have a really great recipe for chocolate chocolate chip muffins, I’d be eternally grateful if you’d be willing to share it with me!

In the warmer months of the year my favorite dinner to fall back on when I’m short on time is hummus with all the accoutrements - toasted flat bread, olives, artichoke hearts, veggie sticks, etc. It’s so satisfying, light, healthy and easy. As the end of summer draws near and eggplant is in steady supply I begin to shift my hummus meals to baba ghanouj meals. The wonderfully earthy flavors of grilled or roasted eggplant combine with tahini and lemon juice to perfectly bridge the gap from warm days to cool nights.

My method includes smoking the eggplant, but you can easily grill or roast the eggplant instead. I personally love the flavor imparted by a nice slow smoke over hot coals. If you want to smoke the eggplant over a gas grill, you can place soaked wood chips in an aluminum foil packet. Poke some holes in the packet and place it over the lava rocks, stone or ceramic briquettes in your grill.

Baba Ghanouj

• mesquite chips, soaked 1 hour
• 6 small eggplant
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 c. tahihi
• water, as needed

Prepare the eggplant: If smoking over coals, prepare charcoal. If smoking over a gas grill, heat to medium - medium-high heat. If roasting, heat oven to 350 degrees F. If smoking, place soaked mesquite chips over heat source just prior to placing eggplant on grill. Slice eggplant in half lengthwise and place on prepared grill or in pre-heated oven and cook for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the eggplant is completely tender. At this point, you can continue with the recipe or store cooked eggplant and resume the next day.

Prepare the dip: Place the garlic in the dry clean bowl of a food processor and mince. Scoop eggplant from the skin and add to food processor. Add lemon juice and tahini. Process until smooth. If the mixture is too thick add a bit of water to achieve desired thickness. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if necessary.

Serve room temperature with toasted pita, olives and veggie sticks. The day I made this baba, I had purchased some baby bell peppers at the farmers’ market and decided to turn them into an appetizer presentation.

Yield: about 2 cups of dip

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Last weekend, Jamie of Wayward Seed Farm generously introduced me to ground cherries. She let me taste one right there at their North Market stand while I was picking up my weekly box of produce. I was so intrigued, I just had to take some home. After using the fruit to make a sauce I decided I needed more to tweak the recipe and share it with all of you.

Ground cherries are relatives of tomatillos and are a good source of potassium. Upon first taste it reminded me of a sweet almost pineapple flavored tomato.

This sauce would be good on any mild fish, chicken, pork or duck. For non meat eaters it can be a nice sauce for a mildly seasoned seitan or a simple seared tofu.

Here, I served the sauce as an accompaniment to seared sea scallops garnished with Cyprus black lava sea salt.

Ground Cherry Sauce

• 2 pints ground cherries
• 6 T. white wine
• 3 T. sugar
• 4 t. szechuan peppercorns*
• 1 cinnamon stick
• pinch salt**

Remove husks from ground cherries and rinse. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook covered about 3 minutes or until fruit is soft. Crush the fruit with the back of a wooden spoon and bring temperature up to medium to medium high. You want the mixture to be at a vigorous simmer. Cook about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens a bit. I like the consistency of a thin syrup, but cook longer if you’d like it to be more of a glaze. When the sauce is sufficiently thick, pass it through a fine mesh sieve to separate the skins and peppercorns from the sauce. Serve as desired.

Yield: about 1/2 cup

Notes:

*Szechaun peppercorns are available at Penzey’s Spices. Penzey’s sells by mail order and at their retail outlets across the country.

**Use salt very sparingly in this recipe. Just the slightest bit too much can easily throw the slightly sweet, tangy, peppery flavors off balance even before it begins to taste too salty.

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