sweet potato pancakes

Sweet potatoes are, in my opinion, one of the most underrated of the vegetables. Sometimes I will forget they exist for maybe even months at a time, then one day I'm reminded of them and I'm so sad that I have abandoned them for so long.

*makes mental note to share the family recipe for sweet potato crunch sometime in the fall*

A couple weeks ago Tim and I went to the beach for the day for some much needed time away from work/slave labor on the house/doing irritating chores. We stopped into a restaurant (The Lost Dog) that we had eaten breakfast in during our honeymoon. I was almost nervous about going back. I mean, it was so good then. I was worried that in my clouded state of euphoria from marrying this wonderful person (and the soul-crushing burden of planning a wedding was finally off my shoulders) that I had remembered the food being better than it actually was. The place is nothing fancy (it's an old laundry mat) and neither is the food, but ohhhh my. This place made me believe in huevos rancheros. It made me re-think everything I thought I knew about quesidillas; and the shrimp and grits...well, you don't want to hear me go on and on about shrimp and grits when I'm supposed to be talking about sweet potatoes. I'll save that for another post. Truth is, I could go on about shrimp and grits for hours. I've decided to think of it more as of a skill than something I should seek professional help about.

Back to the potatoes. This place has daily breakfast specials. It's only open till 3 pm and a lot of the early 20's beach types that hang out there aren't exactly the early rising kind. I'm sure they sit on the beach most of the day, then in the late afternoon after the sun has totally wiped them out they take a long nap, then meet up with their friends to drink beverages and do the other silly things that people in their early 20's do in the summer. Meanwhile, I was at work. Allllll day. It's an interesting feeling to be slightly judgmental and extremely jealous at the same time. More jealous than judgmental, and let's face it, that's important. Oh well. There are lots of family types there too, I just don't happen to be living vicariously through them.

This weeks special was sweet potato pancakes. I was intrigued. However, the nice lady that was serving us informed me that they had sold out. Actually, that they had sold out BEFORE NINE A.M. That's right, NINE. Clearly, I will be renting a room in Charleston, SC on a Friday night sometime in the foreseeable future just to make it in to the Lost Dog in time for sweet potato pancakes. Maybe they only make enough to serve 6 people and this is all a ploy to drive up demand, but it has obviously worked.

In the meantime, I tried to figure this out at home--I was not letting go of this one. It was a success.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 tbs. white sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 c. milk

4 tsp. melted butter

2 eggs

1 medium sweet potato--cooked, peeled and pureed.

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

flavorless oil for greasing the griddle

Combine all ingredients and cook like normal pancakes. Serve with maple syrup.

I forgot to take a picture because I was doing my impression of a bed and breakfast owner this weekend. I'll do better next time.

Birthday pie

So, I kind of disappeared for awhile. No particular reason, just a lot of little ones. Mainly things like weddings, summer, botched attempts at pet ownership (*sigh*), multiple family visits, and birthdays. The latter is what made me make this pie.

I'm a huge fan of birthdays. Actually, I'm a big fan of any random day that warrants making special plans, special meals, and doing extra fun things.

My definitions of holidays go as follows:

Christmas = stressful, regardless of effort put forth to try to make it otherwise

Thanksgiving = stressful to plan, but fun once plan is established

Cinco De Mayo = fun

West Virginia Day = fun

Tim's birthday = awesome fun

Well, actually this year his family came to visit, his youngest brother got a stomach bug and proceeded to pass it to Tim just in time for his birthday. However, we decided once the fever broke that birthday time was going to be postponed. Then we can go to the beach and Charleston and do all the fun "but it's your biiiirthdayyy" type-things.

This didn't stop me from planning out a birthday dinner menu weeks in advance, of course. By far, the biggest success was the pie. I've always been a fan of coconut so this jumped out at me. I also realized I haven't really made many pies considering how much baking I've done recently. I remember my mom going on some sort of baking rampage when I was about 10. I call it a rampage because she generally didn't enjoy baking but one fall I think she made about 15 pies. She made a comment then that she gets in the mood to bake about once every 20 years. That was about 15 years ago, so I guess I better brace myself. Anyway, she made a 'coconut cream pie' that was actually a coconut meringue pie. The coconut pie was my grandad's favorite and I was strongly discouraged from eating it, but as economics 101 teaches us, scarcity creates demand so I naturally wanted more. I really don't care for meringue, so I was excited to try one with actual cream. It was a super idea.

This was adapted from a recipe on epicurious, but I feel like thechanges made it much better. It has a graham cracker crust which makes it a little different than most I have had. It's rich, but not too rich. It's sweet, but not in a gross over-the-top kind of way. Best of all, it's very coconut-like. It was a big hit, and when I came home from work Tuesday night, I had a piece and ate it straight out of the pie pan while standing in the middle of the kitchen. That should sum up the quality of my Tuesday as well.

Coconut Cream Pie

Adapted from Bon Appetit - April 2000

Crust:

8 whole graham crackers

1/4 c. sugar

3/4 stick chilled unsalted butter, diced

1/2 c. coconut

Filling:

1 c. plus 3 tbs. sweetened flaked coconut

1 1/4 c. whole milk

1 c. coconut milk

1 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

6 tbs. sugar

3 tbs. cornstarch

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 tbs. unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 tsp. coconut extract

1/2 c. chilled whipping cream

Topping:

1 c. whipping cream

1 tbs. powdered sugar

1 tsp. coconut extract

for crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend graham crackers and sugar in processor until finely ground. Add butter and blend until moist clumps form. Add coconut. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

for filling:
Spread coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Place 1/4 cup milk in small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over and let stand 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan to blend. Gradually add 1/4 cup milk (not the 1/4 cup of milk with the gelatin), whisking until smooth. Add remaining 3/4 cup milk, coconut milk, egg and egg yolks, whisking to blend. Reserve 3 tablespoons toasted coconut for topping; add remaining toasted coconut, butter, vanilla, coconut extract, and salt to egg mixture. Cook over medium heat until filling thickens and boils, stirring constantly, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately add gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin dissolves. Transfer to large bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.

Beat 1/2 cup cream in medium bowl to soft peaks; fold into cooled filling. Refrigerate until filling is cold and begins to set, about 30 minutes. Transfer filling to prepared crust. Refrigerate while preparing topping.

for topping:
Beat cream, sugar, and coconut extract in medium bowl to firm peaks. Pipe or spoon evenly over top of filling. Sprinkle with reserved 3 tablespoons toasted coconut. Refrigerate pie at least 3 hours and up to 1 day (I had some 3 days later and it was still great).