The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, February 16, 2021, Page 9, Image 9

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    TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
HOME & LIVING
SWEET
3. Mix the garlic powder,
paprika, salt and pepper in a
small bowl, and toss them with
the sweet potatoes. Remove
the hot baking sheets from the
oven, scatter them with the
fries in a single layer and return
the baking sheets to the oven.
4. Bake until brown and crisp
on the bottom, about 12 to 15
minutes, then fl ip and cook un-
til the other side is crisp, about
10 minutes. Serve hot.
Continued from Page 1B
It makes a richly fl avored,
robust meal, heavy with black
beans, tomatoes, diced onion
and red bell pepper provid-
ing a foundation of fl avor for
the star attraction, the sweet
potatoes. Don’t tell anyone,
but I added a bit of hot sauce
to my bowl.
Sweet potato fries, of course,
are always popular. I thought
about simply dropping them
into hot oil and frying them,
but then I came across a
recipe for oven-baked fries —
though “oven-baked fries” is
an oxymoron.
I’m not actually sure if
baking fries in an oven is any
better for you than frying
them in oil. The recipe I used
requires two tablespoons of oil
for two large sweet potatoes,
and I am not convinced that
fries that are fried would soak
up more than that amount.
Still, the reason to make
oven-baked sweet-potato
fries is compelling: They are
excellent.
Baking them in an oven
allows the fries’ exterior to be-
come crispy, or at least moder-
ately crispy, while the interior
is soft and creamy. They are
just what fries should be, only
sweeter than ordinary fries.
Perhaps it is counterintui-
tive, but these sort-of-sweet
fries are even better when
served not with ketchup but
with honey. Add a little cin-
namon for an extra treat.
The next dish I made is
similar in some ways to the
oven-baked fries. Parmesan
Baked Sweet Potatoes are
cooked the same way —
tossed with a little bit of oil
and then baked — so they
have the same crisp and
creamy textures. But the simi-
larity ends there.
The fries are spiced with
garlic powder, paprika, salt
and black pepper; these
intense fl avors contrast nicely
with the smooth, sweet taste
of the sweet potatoes. But the
Parmesan Baked Sweet Po-
tatoes offer a little more than
the Parmesan cheese melted
on top under the broiler at the
end of cooking.
The cheese here serves only
as an accent. It is an excla-
mation point at the end of a
sweet sweet-potato sentence.
Next up was the baked-
potato version of a sweet
potato. The sweet potato
here is baked whole until it
is completely tender. So far,
there is nothing extraordinary
about it.
The extraordinary part
comes from the sauce that
is drizzled over the top. The
sauce begins with melted
butter that has been browned,
so it tastes a little nuttier.
That is combined with a bit of
honey and a dash of vinegar,
for a subdued sweet-and-sour
effect, and some crushed
red pepper to bring on just
enough heat.
If you like the sauce on
sweet potatoes you can try
adding it to anything from
winter squash to oatmeal to
ice cream.
Last came dessert. Sweet
potatoes are one of the very
few vegetables that can legiti-
mately be used in dessert.
I made a sweet potato pie.
Of course I did. What else
would a pie-lover make?
The ingredients may sound
familiar: cinnamon, nutmeg,
ginger and cloves. It’s what
goes into any pumpkin pie
worth its salt (salt is also an
ingredient). But what makes
this sweet potato pie better
Per serving: 130 calories; 4 g
fat; 1 g saturated fat; no choles-
terol; 2 g protein; 23 g carbohy-
drate; 5 g sugar; 4 g fi ber; 353
mg sodium; 36 mg calcium
Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Vegan sweet potato chili.
out of the skins and transfer it
to a bowl or serving dish, then
drizzle with the browned butter
sauce). Sprinkle with fl aky sea
salt.
— Adapted from a recipe by
Mark Bittman in the New York
Times
2 or 3 sweet potatoes, about
1 1/2 to 2 pounds
2 (15-ounce) cans black
beans, undrained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 or 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons mild
pickled jalapenos, optional
1 tablespoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 (14-ounce) cans fi re-
roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon molasses or
other sweetener
1 teaspoon unsweetened
cocoa
1. Preheat oven to 400
degrees.
2. Cube sweet potatoes and
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
place in a large bowl. Add 1
tablespoon of the juice from
3 sweet potatoes
the beans, salt and paprika,
2 tablespoons olive oil
Per serving: 300 calories; 17 g
and toss to coat. Scatter in
1/2 teaspoon salt
fat; 11 g saturated fat; 46 mg
single layer on a baking sheet.
Pepper
cholesterol; 2 g protein; 36 g
Roast for 20 minutes and set
2 tablespoons Parmesan
carbohydrate; 14 g sugar; 4 g
aside to cool.
cheese, fi nely grated
fi ber; 861 mg sodium; 47 mg
3. Add oil to a large Dutch
calcium
oven over medium-high heat.
1. Preheat oven to 425 de-
Add onion and red bell pep-
— Recipe from “Dining In” by grees. Peel sweet potatoes and per, and sauté until softened,
Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Alison Roman cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks. In a about 3 to 5 minutes.
large bowl, toss sweet potatoes
Parmesan sweet potatoes.
4. Stir in garlic, jalapeño if
with oil, salt and a generous
using, chili powder, cumin and
amount of pepper. Spread in a oregano. Cook 3 minutes, stir-
warm or cold.
single layer on a baking sheet. ring often.
than ordinary pumpkin pies
2. Bake 15 minutes, fl ip
are the other ingredients.
5. Add tomatoes, water,
sweet potatoes and cook until cornmeal, sweetener and
Along with the heavy cream Per serving: 484 calories; 22 g Yield: 6 servings
brown and tender, 10 minutes. cocoa. Bring to a simmer and
and eggs, this pie also benefi ts fat; 11 g saturated fat; 106 mg
Sprinkle with Parmesan. Cook cook 30 minutes, stirring oc-
cholesterol; 6 g protein; 67 g
from brown sugar and bour-
under broiler until the cheese
2 pounds sweet
carbohydrate; 42 g sugar; 4 g
casionally.
bon. These additions bring a
has melted, 1 to 2 minutes.
potatoes, peeled
fi ber; 476 mg sodium; 84 mg
6. Drain and rinse black
rich and round depth to the
2 tablespoons olive oil
beans; add to chili. Add
pie. It is a fl avor-forward des- calcium
Per serving (based on 4): 156
1 teaspoon garlic powder
roasted sweet potatoes and
sert, where the ingredients all
calories; 7 g fat; 11 g satu-
— Adapted from “My Beverly 1 teaspoon paprika
taste for seasoning; add salt as
act in harmony to bring color
rated fat; 2 mg cholesterol; 2
Hills Kitchen” by Alex Hitz 1 teaspoon salt
needed.
and emphasis to the sweet
g protein; 20 g carbohydrate;
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
potato at the heart of it all.
4 g sugar; 3 g fi ber; 387 mg
Per serving (based on 8): 282
sodium; 63 mg calcium
1. Line 2 rimmed baking
calories; 2 g fat; 2 g saturated
sheets with parchment paper
fat; no cholesterol; 10 g protein;
Yield: 8 servings
and place in oven. Preheat
— Adapted from a recipe by 55 g carbohydrate; 12 g sugar;
oven (with baking sheets in
Kelli Foster in thekitchn.com 15 g fi ber; 12 mg sodium; 120
them) to 400 degrees.
1 pie crust
mg calcium
Yield: 4 servings
2. Cut the sweet potatoes
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
into sticks 1/4- to 1/2-inch wide
1 cup heavy cream
— Adapted from a recipe
and 3 inches long, and toss
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 small to medium sweet
by Chuck Underwood in
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
them with the oil.
1/2 cup good maple syrup
potatoes, scrubbed
Brandnewvegan.com
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
5 tablespoons salted
1 teaspoon crushed red
Presented By
butter, melted
pepper fl akes
3 eggs beaten
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup bourbon
1 tablespoon white
1/2 teaspoon ground
wine vinegar or apple
cinnamon
cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Flaky sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground
1. Preheat oven to 425
black pepper
degrees.
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2. Poke each sweet potato
all over with a fork and place
1. Preheat oven to 350
directly on the oven rack. Roast
degrees. Place pie crust in a
until they are impossibly ten-
9-inch pan and poke holes
der, with bits of sweet potato
all over with a fork. Line with
sugar caramelizing in the spot
aluminum foil or parchment
they’ve been poked, 60 to 80
paper, weight down with pie
minutes.
weights or dried beans and
3. Meanwhile, melt the but-
bake until edges just begin to
ter in a small pot over medium
turn golden brown, about 15 to heat, swirling the pan until
ST
18 minutes. Remove weights
the butter starts to bubble and
and lining, and cool thoroughly brown, about 5 minutes. Add
to room temperature.
the honey, vinegar and red
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temperature to 325 degrees.
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and stir well to combine. Pour
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PARMESAN SWEET
POTATOES
OVEN-BAKED
SWEET POTATO
FRIES
SWEET POTATO PIE
FAMILY
OWNED
ROASTED SWEET
POTATOES WITH
HOT HONEY
BROWNED BUTTER
VEGAN SWEET
POTATO CHILI
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