Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

The baking times are approximate; it depends on how thick you cut the wedges or rounds of sweet potatoes. Try to cut them evenly so they all cook at about the same rate. For best browning results bake only one sheet at a time. Why the sugar? To help with the caramelization and to intensify the sweetness of the fries, but you can easily leave it out if you want.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, about 3 large ones
• 1/4 cup olive or other vegetable oil
• 1-2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1-2 Tbsp spice or spice combination of your choice: chipotle powder, smoked paprika,
• Chinese five-spice, pumpkin pie spice, garam masala, Cajun seasoning, etc.

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 450°F.

2 Peel the sweet potatoes and cut off the ends. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then, if they are very long, in half crosswise. Cut each piece into wedges. Alternately, you can slice the peeled sweet potato into disks either with a mandoline or a sharp knife.

3 Put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl and add the oil. Mix well to combine. Sprinkle with salt, sugar and spices of your choice. Use your hands to mix well, so all pieces are coated with oil and spices.

4 Spread the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet; the oil they are coated with should keep them from sticking to the pan. If you are trying to cut fat, reduce the oil to 2 Tbsp and use a non-stick coating on the baking sheet.

5 Bake for a total of 25 to 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn over all of the sweet potato pieces. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until they are well browned. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish.

Fudge

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400 g	sugar
70 ml	water
60 g	butter
25 ml	syrup, golden or maple, or any other preferred syrup of your choice
400 ml	condensed milk
5 ml	vanilla essence

Method

Lightly grease a 27 x 17cm pan.

Cobine sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the butter and syrup, stirring until the butter has melted. Add condensed milk and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. Cook for about 25 minutes until mixture starts to thicken.

Remove saucepan from the stove, add the vanilla and beat until it thickens more.

Pour into a pan and leave to cool.

To serve, cut into squares.

Homemade Creme-Fraiche

To make 1 cup of crème fraiche, pour 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream into a clean jar, add 2 tablespoons buttermilk or yogurt, cover the jar tightly, and shake it for about a minute. Then just leave the jar at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or until the crème fraiche thickens slightly. How quickly it thickens will depend on the temperature of the room - the warmer the room, the faster it will thicken.
When it is nice and thick, chill the crème fraiche in the refrigerator for a day before you use it.
It can be kept in the refrigerator, covered, for about 2 weeks and will get a bit tangier day by day. 

Ginger Beer

Ingredients

• 2 litre bottle of still mineral water
• large chunk of root ginger (you need 1½ to 2 tablespoons of grated ginger)
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup of sugar
• ¼ teaspoon of dried yeast

1) Lay all your ingredients out to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.

2) Realise you’ve forgotten the yeast, so get that too.

3) Decant the water into a suitable temporary container (skip this step if you are using tap water)

4) Using a plastic funnel, pour the sugar into the bottle. (if you don’t have a funnel fashion one out of paper like me)

5) Add the dried yeast to the bottle.

6) Now, grate the ginger until you have between 1½ and 2 tablespoon’s worth. I used 2 tablespoons because I really like ginger, but feel free to vary this according to your tastes. Also, you may wish to cut the skin off before grating. I’m lazy so I left it all on.

7) Next, extract the juice from one lemon.

8 ) Mix the grated ginger and lemon juice together in a cup or other suitable piece of crockery.

9) Next you need to add the ginger/lemon mixture to the bottle. This is where a plastic funnel comes in really handy. for some reason paper funnels don’t work so well once wet.

10) Now, you need to add the water to the bottle. Fill it up until it is about ¾ full, then put the cap on and shake the bottle until all the sugar is dissolved.

11) You then need to top the bottle up until there is approximately a one inch gap at the top. This gap is to prevent explosions once the yeast gets to work.

12) Put the cap on the bottle as tightly as you can, then place the bottle somewhere warm. I put mine in my airing cupboard. You’ll need to leave it for 24-48hours to let the yeast go to work. Once the bottle is very hard, and can’t be squeezed, the ginger beer is done. It took 24 hours for my batch to be ready.

13) Place the bottle in the fridge overnight. This halts the yeast and stops the bottle exploding. You really don’t want to leave that bottle in a warm place for any longer than 48 hours.

14) Once the ginger beer is chilled, pour it into a glass and enjoy. I sieve mine when pouring so I don’t have any lumps of ginger in the drink.

Tiramisu

(+ 6 hours chilling time)

Preparation Time

20 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 250ml (1 cup) strong espresso coffee
• 80ml (1/3 cup) Tia Maria liqueur
• 16 savoiardi (sponge finger biscuits)
• 2 eggs, separated
• 55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
• 1 x 250g tub mascarpone
• Shaved dark chocolate, to serve

Method

1. Combine coffee and Tia Maria in a bowl. Dip biscuits, 1 at a time, into the coffee mixture and use to line the sides of four 375ml (1 1/2-cup) capacity serving glasses. Drizzle with remaining coffee mixture.
2. Use an electric beater to beat together the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until thick and creamy. Add the mascarpone and beat until combined.
3. Use a clean electric beater to whisk the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Use a metal spoon to fold half the egg white into the mascarpone mixture. Fold in the remaining egg white until combined. Spoon mascarpone mixture among glasses. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 6 hours to chill.
4. Sprinkle with chocolate to serve.

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Agnolotti with roasted pumpkin and sage

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 700g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 pinches chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 625g fresh ricotta and spinach agnolotti pasta
• 80g butter, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• Shaved parmesan cheese, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place pumpkin in a bowl. Add chilli and coriander. Spray with oil. Stir to combine. Arrange pumpkin, in a single layer, on baking tray. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and tender.
2. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, following packet directions, until tender. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan.
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook sage and walnut for 3 to 5 minutes or until butter is golden and sage crisp.
4. Add pumpkin, sage mixture and reserved cooking liquid to pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Toss over low heat until combined and heated through. Serve topped with parmesan.

Notes

• Super saver: Use 500g potato gnocchi instead of agnolotti pasta 

a killer mac 'n' cheese

© David Loftus

 serves 8-10 
‘

Get a large pan of salted water on to boil. Melt the butter in a large ovenproof saucepan over a low heat, then add the flour and turn the heat up to medium, stirring all the time, until you get a paste – this is your roux. Add all the sliced garlic – don’t worry about the amount, because each slice will caramelize like toffee in the roux. Keep cooking and stirring until golden and the garlic is nice and sticky. Add the bay leaves and slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time to ensure you get a nice smooth sauce. Bring the mixture to the boil, then leave it on a low heat to simmer and tick away, stirring occasionally. Preheat your oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7.

Add the pasta to the pan of boiling salted water and cook according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes on a board and season them well with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta and add it immediately to the sauce. Give it a good stir and take the pan off the heat. Stir in your grated cheeses, chopped tomatoes and thyme leaves. A little Worcestershire sauce added now is nice, and so is a little grating or two of nutmeg. Now work on the flavour – taste it and season it until it’s hitting the right spot. You want it to be slightly too wet because it will thicken up again in the oven, so add a splash of water if needed.

If you’ve made your sauce in an ovenproof casserole-type pan, leave everything in there; if not, transfer it to a deep earthenware dish. Bake it for 30 minutes in the oven, until golden, bubbling, crispy and delicious.

While it’s cooking, put your breadcrumbs and thyme into a pan with a few drizzles of olive oil over a medium heat. Stir and toss the crumbs around until crunchy and golden all over. Remove from the heat and tip into a nice bowl. Serve your macaroni cheese in the centre of the table, with your bowl of crispy breadcrumbs for sprinkling over, and a lovely green salad.

Wine suggestion:
dry Italian white – a good Pinot Grigio