The ultimate in comfort food, these crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside little sweet potato cakes are the latkes great cousin. Super simple and consisting of about 5 ingredients, you just can’t go wrong. Top them with anything from lox to caviar, guacamole to a fried egg- the possibilities are endless.
Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi‘s recipe, I have simply made a gluten free version with a zippy lemon-chile yogurt sauce. I’ve been cooking with sweet potatoes a lot lately as baby Mav just loves them, he’s my kinda guy. Ottolenghi is a huge inspiration, his cookbooks make vegetables look as exciting as skydiving off Mount Corcovado.
It’s sunny and beautiful out and the massive pile of snow is swiftly melting down, the igloo J built has caved in on itself and winter seems to be dissipating for the time being. So I’m going to keep this short and sweet, just like these little cakes, and go for a jaunt in Vitamin D land out there.
TA-DA! Winter doldrums be gone, chocolate cream pie has arrived to banish you until next week! For real, what’s better than a hazelnut-almond shortbread crust topped with decadent chocolate laden with a top secret ingredient, layered with airy whipped coconut cream?
Secret ingredient: Sweet potato has passed the test and gone completely undetected by my guinea pig, twice. Have no fear, the small amount of sweet potato adds oomph and body without any characteristic taste whatsoever. Kinda like sweet potato brownies, only better.
Plus you don’t even have to bake it and the longer it stays in the fridge the better it gets, win and win.
Another excellent cure for the bare bottomed blues of winter is to rearrange all the furniture in your entire house.
My house is very small so this was easy and deeply satisfying. Not a bad excuse to clean sneaky lurking dust bunnies either. I realized there was a giant pointless shelf in my kitchen which did nothing but occupy space and clutter. Be gone useless shit, I don’t need you anymore.
Have you ever rearranged a room and thought, how did I ever not have it this way? How the hell could I ever have lived with this room any other way?!
Sitting in my newly arranged living room, noshing on a luscious creamy piece of pie and watching my giant wolf dog allow my baby to hug his neck, life doesn’t seem like it could get much better. But just like the way the furniture was fine before, things can always get better.
1 C roasted hazlenuts ( you can substitute for almonds or almond meal if you wish)
2 Tbs coconut sugar or raw cane sugar
½ C coconut oil, melted
¼ C raw cacao paste OR powder
1 C raw cashews, soaked for at least an hour and up to 8
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅓ tsp sea salt
½ C sweet potato, steamed or roasted
3 Tbs honey or maple syrup
1 can coconut milk, thoroughly chilled to separate the coconut cream from the liquid
Instructions
In a blender or food processor, pulverize the almonds and hazelnuts into a fine meal consistency. In a large bowl mix with sugar and 2 Tbs coconut oil. Press this mix into a pie plate making sure to bring it up nice and high on the sides and press firmly to set in place. Set aside in the fridge or freezer while you make the filling.
In a blender or food processor add cashews, sweet potato, cacao, coconut oil, vanilla, salt and honey or maple syrup. Blend until smooth and add about 2 Tbs of the liquid from your coconut milk. Pour onto the crust and allow to set in the fridge for half and hour at least.
To make the coconut whipped cream, add the separated cream to a stand mixer or whisk by hand until light and fluffy. Pour over chocolate layer and chill before serving.
Those days when you wake up and realize the house is an absolute disaster, the plants are thirsty, the dust bunnies are about to come alive and yet all I want to do is cook and make more of a mess. The benefit of working in restaurants is you don’t usually have to do the dishes, creative prowess is unleashed when there’s no dishes involved, I swear. But I won’t let my creative urges be tamed, the dishes can pile up, until eventually someone decides to crank some bouncy tunes and get ‘er done. Until then, there’s this rejuvenating fennel salad speckled with sweet pods of the juiciest pomegranate ever, crunchy green and purple pistachios, salty firm organic feta all drizzled with a simple olive oil, lemon and sesame seed dressing. This salad is amazing by itself but I can only imagine would be the perfect side for lamb shanks or grilled chicken.
I know it’s time to get baking delicious festive treats but to tell the truth I haven’t been struck with the spirit yet. Actually it feels a lot more like March than December and I’m not complaining. Though I do hope there’s a bit of snow in Edmonton when we go for Christmas. By then I’ll likely post 7 cookie and treat recipes in 2 days because my mom decorates to the nines and even if there’s not a flake of snow on the ground it’ll still feel like christmas when we get there. Poor mom, she had to take down all her fake snow blankets and move baby Jesus and the crew over to a higher table so that baby Mav won’t pull them all to their demise. He’s getting pretty agile and his absolute favourite thing is to pull stuff off of high tables, but he’s certainly got some guardian angels watching over him. Yesterday he pulled down a light wicker shelf that had a heavy piece of pottery sitting on it along with my heavy golden snale, it missed him by an inch though I think he learned his lesson as it was quite the shock.
I know these look like yam fries, they are stained orange from the paprika. I think I can safely say they’re even better than yam fries, more of an earthy robust taste that just doesn’t compare. The lime aioli is also spiked with garlic and begs you to drench every fry in it. Recently we ordered our bulk organic vegetables to store for the winter. Being relatively unfamiliar with parsnips, I only ordered 5 lbs. Now that I’ve tasted these I think I’ll be ordering more, the parsnip is a noble vegetable, it may look like a carrot but the texture and taste differ in a palate pleasing way.
We actually enjoyed these for breakfast with sunny side up pastured eggs, a great fuel for a productive happy day. It reminded me of being in some hipster cafe that charges fifteen bucks a plate. Parsnips, in reality are mighty affordable and wholly underrated. I can see the sign outside the bistro right now, “parsnip fries are the new yam fries” I wouldn’t contest.
Now if you want to make your own mayo, which I strongly recommend, check out this post on the easiest most foolproof way to do it. Also, feel free to switch up the aioli, I know not everyone in the world likes cilantro so even a simple garlic aioli would be stunning with these fries, they really are the star of the show.
3 large parsnips, peeled and cut into ¼ inch strips
1 Tbs smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbs coconut oil, melted or preferred cooking fat
½ C mayonnaise
¼ C cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbs lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F
Using a large bowl or ziploc bag, add oil, paprika, cayenne and salt. Add the parsnip strips, cover the bowl and shake until all the fries are evenly coated with spices and oil.
On a large baking sheet lined with parchment, spread an even layer of fries and bake for 30 minutes. For the last 5 minutes turn the oven to broil for extra crispy fries, just watch them closely.
Combine mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice and garlic in a jar and shake well.
Serve the mayo drizzle over the fries or on the side.
My mind is all over the place lately. I’m a daydreamer, it’s my superpower, I could do it all day and be quite content. I especially love people watching and daydreaming in conjunction, imagining what the lives of others are made of. Today I nearly walked into a pole, which may have something to do with the smell of pulled pork wafting out of Nelsons bbq joint. By some space cadet miracle I was able to pull it together this morning and bring everything we needed to town as well as making these delicious thai lime and chili cashews. These are a great snack and super easy to make, I know I’m a sure sucker for all those fancy nut mixes at the health food store. They’re usually pretty expensive and you don’t really get much, so I’ve opted to just make my own for a fraction of the price. Because I am nuts about nuts! I like to add additional little goodies like coconut flakes and sesame seeds but you can totally leave those out if you want.
Trader Joe’s makes a thai chili lime cashew mix that people love. Although theirs tastes artificial and overtly fake, this one is the real deal and tastes way better! If you shop at TJ’s I’d say stick to the whole foods, their pre packaged stuff tends to have a lot of added garbage.
In a medium sized bowl combine sesame oil, hot sauce,honey, lime, tamari and mix well.
Add sesame seeds, coconut and cashews and toss to coat evenly in the sauce.
Spread a thin layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 7 minutes, take out and stir, bake for another 7-10 minutes depending on the strength of your oven, check often to make sure they turn perfectly golden but don't burn.
An attempt was made to ascend one of the remaining remnants of the old growth forests of British Columbia. Up into the endangered Jumbo valley, whose ski resort future is looming within her glory. Though we underestimated the mighty whipping winds which brought a taste of winter and a swelling fondness for the unpredictable. At first our persevering spirits motored forth, with my 7 month old baby strapped to my chest, every step was placed with meaning and my clumsy nature replaced with grace. Meandering up this narrow slippery path, the moment being the only possibility, I squelched the idea that this sort of reckless snowy mountain hike makes me a negligent mother. It’s that kind of domesticated human brainwash babble that I catch myself in sometimes. Our feminine ancestors were certainly out perusing the land daily foraging food with their babies. We did end up turning back, it was a white out and the epic views were smothered in clouds and snow. For now the foraging will happen close to home, until Jumbo welcomes us back next summer. It was an absolute pleasure to reconnect with my sister and our friend, we came home from our hike to a slow cooked boeuf bourgignon which I’m just going to have to recreate and share with you all.
For now I have a spiffy way to roast up brussels sprouts that every the pickiest little turkeys will gobble right up. These caramelized maple almond brussels sprouts and pumpkin will convert any hater, they sure did the trick for me, former loather of all things brussels and J too. The sweet gooey maple crunchy roasted almond bits and slightly bitter minister cabbages speckled with slices of creamy pumpkin- oh it’s just perfection. Honestly I ate these as a meal by themselves today, even baby Mav chowed down. Paired alongside roast chicken or turkey, you’ve got yourselves a colourful healthy side dish and maybe even a new fall staple.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
