Sweet Potato & Leek Top Tortilla Española - 100 Days of Recipes: Day 62

If you come to Asheville (and you really should, you know!), you will find unending possibilities for good food and drink. One of my favorites, and they were even before they were a client, is Cúrate Tapas Bar, and their Tortilla Española is something I love! I also love sweet potatoes, and in fact I like them much more than white potatoes, so as soon as I had this goodness at the restaurant, I began wondering how it would taste with sweet potatoes. 

I kept wondering, and then a wonderful thing happened: chef Katie Button released her Cúrate cookbook, and included was her recipe for the Tortilla. I loved it so much the first time I made it myself, I think I made it easily five more times within as many weeks. I think it's my favorite way to eat white potatoes.

But the question remained, I wonder if I could make a version with sweets? The opportunity presented itself this week when I decided to put together some small bites to celebrate a neighbor's birthday. I was thinking of making the tortilla from the cookbook for the event, adding the blanched leek tops (see Day 59, June 26) from the freezer. Well the day did not go as planned, and I didn't get a chance to shop for the cookbook tortilla, but when I got home, I realized I had the eggs, I had some onions, I had the leek tops, and I had a good pile of sweet potatoes. Here was my chance to test out a new version!

Flipped out of the cast iron pan and onto a platter - perfect for entertaining, because
you can plate it, then get ready and it'll be at a perfect serving temperature
by the time your guests arrive!

I don't always test new recipes when I'm entertaining ... oh wait, yes I do. In fact, I think I make a point to do that, so this fit right in. In addition to the leek tops, I had some beautiful oyster mushrooms from the tailgate that just seemed to want to go in the tortilla, so in they went.

I was a bit rushed from the 'day that did not go as planned', so I didn't think to take any pictures until the plating, but I think the key to making sweet potatoes work for this is to slice them thin, and then watch them in the fry pan and turn them just as they begin to get color. The texture stays really nice in the tortilla!

The recipe below is what I made, following the original recipe out of the Cúrate Cookbook, but adapting for the ingredients I had - the result is sweeter than the original, to be sure, but if you love sweet potatoes, you'll love it. And I may add some more fresh herbs next time to offset the sweetness .. or not - this was really, really good!!

Sweet Potato, Leek Top, and Oyster Mushroom Tortilla

6 eggs, whisked well
1/3 cup blended oil (I used a little olive oil with a little veg oil)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (a bit less than 1/8")
1/2 large yellow onion, 1/16" slices
1 cup blanched leek tops
1 cup sliced oyster mushrooms (loose pack)

Whisk the eggs in a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, then set aside near the stove.

Heat the oil in a 10" cast iron or other heavy-bottom pan. Stove tops vary, but you're looking for a medium heat that's a little hotter than medium. Cook the sliced sweet potatoes in batches, turning them often so they don't burn too fast. Adjust your heat as needed. Once you have a nice, light browning on both sides, use a slotted spatula and remove them, shaking off excess oil, to the bowl of eggs, and add a nice pinch of salt. Repeat until you've done all the sweet potatoes. If you still have a lot of oil, pour off the excess and leave just enough to saute the onions. Lower the heat a bit, add the onions to the pan along with the leek tops. Stir to coat with the oil, cover and let them soften for about 3 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and a nice sprinkle of salt, stir to mix, cover and let cook another 3 minutes.

Add the onion mixture to the eggs, stir to combine thoroughly. Add 2 TBSP oil to the pan, and set the heat to medium/low. Pour in the eggs, and spread it out in an even layer. Cook until the underside is golden and the center is set - about 10 minutes.

Place a plate 'face down' on top of the pan, and using towels or oven mitts, flip the tortilla from the pan to the plate. Immediately slide the tortilla back into the pan so you can get a nice browning on the other side. That'll take another 5-6 minutes. 

Loosen the sides of the tortilla with a spatula, then you can either flip it back onto your serving platter, or get a spatula under it and lift it out of the pan and onto the platter.

*Don't cook it until it's solidly firm all the way through, or you may end up with an over-done tortilla. Let it have a little give in the center, and you'll have a nice moisture (think 'over easy' eggs in creaminess, but not as runny) inside.

This is best at room temp, so you can do it up to an hour before serving.

Swirls and layers of flavor, perfect for a small Swirl Plate!

Carrot-Top Gremolata Pt. 2: 100 Days of Recipes, Day 54

A 'leftover' follow up to my carrot top gremolata on fish recipe - I had some leftovers, and my original plan for them before the gremolata was to make tacos for lunch at the studio. That didn't change, but the tasty gremolata inspired a 'gremolata slaw' of sorts for the tacos. By the way, kind of on the run this morning, so the recipe is in the descriptions. :)

Gremolata Slaw: Carrot tops, kale, carrots, red cabbage,
lime peel, roasted garlic, and salt

I had a tiny bit of the gremolata left, and I used it to start my slaw, adding some thinly sliced red cabbage, kale, more carrot shavings, a bit of lime zest, and roasted garlic. A sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lime juice finished it off, and I had a nice, bright slaw that was the perfect accompaniment to my leftover fish in a taco.

I had some new test plates out of a kiln, so lunch was the perfect time to try them out.

I don't use my copper glaze on food surfaces, so the center of this plate is glazed with
my new black satin matte glaze, with just enough 'crazy green' to make a beautiful frame. 

It's always nice to have enough to share with a friend, and to test another new form and glaze!

The tacos were filled out with Gremolata Slaw, leftover cod, some avocado, and a 'crema' I made by thinning out some hummus with a little hot sauce and a splash of cashew milk.

And like a good recipe should, there was a bit of the slaw leftover, which extended my Carrot-Top love one more day when I blended it with some almost too-ripe avocado to make another condiment to go with sweet potatoes I had roasted with olive oil, salt, turmeric, and smoked paprika. That made another tasty taco lunch, and a chance to try out another test from the last kiln.

A final hurrah for the carrot-top gremolata, now in an 'avocado slaw' with roasted sweet potatoes.
A sprinkle of nutritional yeast and a dash of hot sauce were the only other condiments
in this quick studio lunch, but every bite very tasty!

All in all, very happy to say that carrot tops will no longer be relegated solely to the stock pot!

More Sweet Potato Love

We had a bit of a party at the studio this week. We were so happy to welcome good friends and avid collectors Rick & Mary to spend the day with us, watching multiple Raku firings and in general having a very nice visit with all of us in the studio.

The weather wasn't as lovely as it could be, so we devised a warming menu of lamb/chuck burgers, with all sorts of fixin's!

Mary wanted the recipe for the Sweet Potato Fries, so that's what we'll focus on today. The burgers were freshly ground lamb and chuck from The Chop Shop, so needed very little in the way of seasoning beyond a dash of salt, pepper, and soy sauce before hitting a hot grill (thank you again, George Foreman!). Maybe a light sprinkle of smoked sea salt once on the grill.

To begin prep on the sweet potatoes, they were all cut, then tossed in some unfiltered olive oil and an herbed sea salt with a dash of cayenne. Thinly sliced shallot and chopped garlic were tossed in as well.

Next, fry up a pound of bacon (to be used as a burger topping)*. We use an electric skillet at the studio, but you can cook the bacon on the Foreman grill as long as you have a method to collect the grease. Pour off the grease and clean out the pan. When you're ready to cook up the fries, pour in some bacon grease so you have about 1/4" standing. Get it nice and hot (but not smoking) and add the sweet potatoes. I've not listed quantities, as you'll make as much as you want. We used about 6 sweet potatoes, so the pan was full. Toss to make sure the bacon fat is evenly coating the fries, then cover and let cook 5 minutes or so. Open the pan and give them a stir - you'll get some nice browning and caramelization on the bottoms. Give a taste for doneness and season as needed, they'll likely need a few more minutes under the cover.

Remove them to a paper towel lined platter to soak back a bit of the grease before serving.

Our burger buffet, also featuring saute-ed mushrooms (crimini/shiitake blend with leeks), caramelized sweet onions, avocado, and goat cheese.

Mary, if you have any questions, let me know. And if you don't mind, perhaps I'll share the recipe you'll be sending me for those delicious Nutty Apple Muffins when I get it!

*If you're not frying up bacon, you can use oil for cooking the sweet potatoes. We won't judge.

Latkes!

It used to be that a busy studio life meant less cooking. While that's true of 'home' cooking, the increasing functionality of our studio kitchen means I can get an idea for a meal on the way to the studio, and actually cook it up at the studio!

That's sort of what happened the other morning. On the way to the studio, a flyer from my Co-op fell out of one of my bags and I spied a recipe for latkes. It being Hannukah and all, I felt I should make my mom proud and make some for my studio mates. I scanned the recipe and knew I could make it 'more or less' as written, and the results were very well received!

With thanks to the Co-op flyer (I'm sure many who are used to my vague lists of ingredients and cooking process will delight in an actual recipe!) - with my adjustments:

Sweet Potato and Parsnip Latke

Makes 12 latkes.

2 cups shredded sweet potatoes
1 cup shredded parsnips
1/2 small onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup polenta style corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
vegetable oil for frying


Peel the sweet potatoes and parsnips and shred using a food grater or food processor. Wrap the shredded bits in a few paper towels and squeeze out the excess liquid. Grate the onion and wrap that in a few paper towels to squeeze out excess liquid. Add onion to sweet potato and parsnips.

Dust the shredded veggies with the cornmeal, salt, and cayenne pepper. Toss to mix and coat evenly. Lightly beat the two eggs, then pour over the veggies and mix till evenly coated.

Cover the bottom of a large skillet with vegetable oil, and come up the sides about 1/4 inch. When the oil is hot, scoop a large spoon full of the latke mix into the pan, then flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. Repeat until the pan is filled, but not crowded, and lightly sprinkle the flattened tops with sea salt (this side only).  Brown the latkes on each side for about 3-4 minutes, then remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the mix.

** ** **

I think there are many options to play with in the mix. Half way through cooking these, I happened upon a leftover roasted corn on the cob in the fridge, so I scraped off the kernels and added them to the remaining latkes. Very good! Next time I'll probably add some fresh herbs, maybe some other root veg, maybe do a curried version...

Toppings: The co-op flyer suggested a topping of sour cream mixed with a minced apple. I had a container of coconut milk yogurt (apricot) and used that instead, but they were quite good even without a topping.

Happy Hannukah!