Cooking for Alan – Dinner #6 Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes
I have always been a list maker. There is something so gratifying about being able to check off items on a list. I guess it’s documented proof that I’ve accomplished steps towards a goal. Most of my life I’ve been a planner. Dreaming about the future, looking at the big picture and then creating a path towards that end is just how my brain is wired. I have always been a doer. A producer. An individual that enjoys the process as much as the product. Whether it’s planning menus for home and dinner parties or planning family reunions…I enjoy working through the steps of a plan.
Checking them off one at a time.
Today’s “Cooking for Alan – Dinner #6” marks the 25th recipe that I’ve replicated from Ina Garten’s Cooking for Jeffrey cookbook. I consider that quite an accomplishment, since I only began this project a couple of months ago. My goal is to attempt to make every recipe in her cookbook. To share with my readers the success, failures and adaptations I have made when testing out her recipes has been great fun. This project has motivated me to try cooking things that aren’t in my typical repertoire. So far I’ve had mostly successful results…with an occasional oops. Like the crumbling devil’s food cake and the curdled meringue buttercream frosting!
Like Ina, I try to cook with the seasons. There are many recipes in her book that call for fresh fruits and vegetables. So stay tuned for some delicious seasonal dishes I hope to make as soon my garden and our local farmer’s market starts to fill up with fresh produce. For today’s menu, all the ingredients were easy to find:
MENU
Tossed arugula and spinach salad
Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Roast Chicken with Radishes
Raspberry Crumble Bars with Vanilla Ice Cream
Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Not much to look at…but so delicious. Sweet, spicy, savory and silky.
This savory side dish isn’t something you can whip up quickly. You have to bake the sweet potatoes first, then put them in your mixer with other yummy ingredients and then place them in a casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes. Since I was roasting a chicken, I put them in the oven during the last 30 minutes, so everything finished around the same time.
When I went to add the milk and cream to my potatoes I wondered why it seemed so loose? In fact, even though I had the stand mixer on low, as I added all that liquid it splashed everywhere…the counter, the floor, all over my shirt! I finally realized that when I was at the grocery store I only purchased a little over 2 pounds of sweet potatoes…thinking that since it would be just Alan and I for dinner I would cut the recipe in half. So although I reduced the amount of sweet potatoes by half…I forgot to make adjustments to all the other ingredients. Duh! I’m actually glad I kept the entire tablespoon of chipotle chili peppers, because we like things spicy, but the potatoes did turn out pretty loose. They firmed up a bit after baking in the oven as they are cooked uncovered, so they lost some moisture. Regardless of the softer texture, the flavor was amazing. Sweet, spicy, savory and salty. If you like sweet potatoes you will love this version. Click here for Ina’s recipe.
