Cut sweet potatoes into matchstick size. Roughly 1/4 in by 1/4 in.
Wash thoroughly.
Create slurry, 1 part corn starch, 1 part water in flat bowl.
Coat matchstick sweet potatoes in slurry, place in flat dish or on metal mesh sheet.
Heat peanut oil to medium high heat.
Drop matchsticks in, one by one, for a batch a handful at a time. Because of the cornstarch, the matchsticks stick together if you put them all in by the handful. Let cook on medium high heat until cornstarch is solidified and matchsticks are a light golden brown. Put into dish with a few paper towels in it to drain.
Make seasoning: salt, garlic powder, black pepper, white pepper, paprika.
Make dip: 1 part just mayo, 1 part ketchup. Cholula to taste.
WHEN READY TO EAT: Get a second dish, line it with paper towels. Heat oil to medium high/high heat. Fry matchsticks a SECOND time. They will brown up really really fast now. Take them out, drain the oil on the paper towel covered dish, season well. Enjoy with the dip.
I don’t know what a pudding is. It’s a British term for cake, I believe. Or a casserole. YMMV.
I used about three quarters of a 9 inch unbaked pie shell for this. Buttered a casserole dish (a small one, by pyrex) and pressed in my pie crust. Voila. I try to make smaller servings because I cannot, by myself, finish a 9 inch pie. And I shouldn’t, or my next stop will be Walmart to buy a six pack of moo moos, because pants no longer fit me.
NOTE: If you don’t use a pie crust, this recipe is 100% gluten free.
Sweet Potato Filling
Ingredients:
1 c mashed sweet potato (bake and mash 1-2 sweet potatos)
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 can pineapple in juice, crushed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp clove
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c walnuts or pecans, chopped and toasted
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 egg yolks
1/4 c dried cranberries (or raisins, or cherries, or sultanas, whatever you like)
Blend the sweet potato mix, put in casserole dish. Or maybe on an unbaked pie shell. I used a pie shell. You don’t really have to, if you don’t want to.
Bake 60Â min at 350Â degrees. Cover with aluminum foil if it looks like the crust is getting too brown (this is about at the 45 min mark).
Let cool. (This takes about 2-3 hours to cool)
NOTE: The filling does not SOLIDIFY like jello. It stays liquidy. Test that it is cooked, not that it is solid. FYI. This is what makes it a pudding/casserole, not a pie.
Meringue:
2Â egg whites
pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Blend meringue mixture on high speed for 5 minutes until glossy and stiff peaks form.
Putting it all together:
Top cooled pie with meringue mixture. Broil for 45 seconds. Serve. (Meringue is NOT cooked!! JUST browned!!)(Pregnant women and people with depressed immune systems, beware!)
Enjoy!
PRO TIP:
I hate saving half a can of this and half a can of that. What a waste. So, make a pina colada (virgin or not) with the other half of the coconut cream and pineapple. How? Blend the two together with ice, add sugar (about 1/4 c), and rum (to taste..). Enjoy!
LEFTOVER MERINGUE:
200 F for 2 hours. Keep oven closed and let meringue dry overnight.
Quick crash course in why the brand of flour you use matters: Look at this bread, it tastes great, is soft and delicious. But it does not have the height or fluffiness of my other tongzhen breads. Why is that? I used Gold Medal Flour in this recipe instead of King Arthur flour. The different brands have different gluten content. to make the dough rise, you need more gluten. My other tongzhen recipe called for adding nonfat dry milk to the recipe, I skipped that because I was out of it and because I was feeling too lazy to run to the store and buy it. Add a fourth of a cup to the dough (and subtract a fourth of a cup of milk from the recipe to compensate) to get that nice cottony loft back that you see pictured in my other tongzhen breads.
STARTER
3 tbsp flour (King Arthur bread flour or all purpose flour)
1/2 c liquid (1/4 c water + 1/4 c milk)
Mix in saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until it becomes of pudding-like consistency. Let cool.
DOUGH
2.5c flour
1/4 c sugar
1 c milk
1 egg
2 tbsp (1/4 stick) butter
2 tsp (or one packet) yeast
1/2 tsp salt
All the STARTER
DIRECTIONS
Using stand mixer, mix all dough for 15 min. Dough will be sticky and stringy, silky and smooth.
Separate dough into two balls. Add 1/2 c mashed sweet potato (homemade or canned) to one ball. Mix well.
Cover. Let each ball rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
TO MAKE MARBLE LOAF
Roll white dough into rectangle.
Roll orange dough into rectangle half the size of the white dough rectangle.
Place the orange dough rectangle inside the white dough rectangle. (Like this.)
Fold over the white dough rectangle. Keep folding, creating layers of different colors.
Divide into three strands. Braid.
Put on baking sheet lined with silpat. Cover loosely. Let rise 30 min.
Glaze with milk or egg wash (1/4 c milk or water and 1 egg, mixed well). The egg wash gives a shiny finish to the rolls, the milk wash makes the rolls brown but not shiny.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 min.
Enjoy!
VARIATION FOR THREE COLOR BRAIDED BREAD:
Divide dough into 3 parts.
One part, leave alone (white).
The second part, add 2tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (brown). (NO, THIS WILL NOT MAKE YOUR BREAD TASTE LIKE CHOCOLATE. AT ALL. THE CHOCOLATE IS BEING USED HERE JUST AS A FOOD COLORING).
The third part, add 1/4 c mashed sweet potato (orange).
Braid and let rise, then glaze with egg wash and bake as above.
Enjoy!
Note: Mine tastes great, but the orange white marble color didn’t really come out. I can see why people do this with chocolate and vanilla, usually. Maybe I’ll try the three color braid next time, for a more cool looking effect. I guess I can put orange food coloring to make it more orange looking, but honestly, I don’t like to add artificial coloring if I don’t have to. You bake at home to increase the healthiness in your life, not decrease it. That’s my thought, anyway.
Note2: Next time, try with shredded mashed beets, what a great red color the loaf would be! I totally have to try it! Plus, it would be sooo healthy (and yet, not taste “healthy”).
If you try out my recipe, please let me know how it works for you, and what you did differently to make the recipe “yours”.
This recipe was requested specifically by Montreal Rachael. The navel oranges are looking so good right now, it’s a good time to make orange pickles. These are best eaten with aged white cheddar or goat cheese on crackers. Actually I don’t think I have ever eaten them any other way. Choose oranges that are a nice mix between juice and fiber. The juice is cooked out in the pickling process so you will only be left with the pickled fiber and thats what tastes so good! Don’t use organic oranges unless they are fabulous and blemish-free. I used organic oranges once and ended up throwing the whole batch in the garbage because they were too juicy and had little spots on the skins that were magnified in appearance by being in a pickle jar.
Spiced Orange Slices
4 large oranges
1 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 C each cider vinegar and water
1/4 C corn syrup
8 whole cloves
4 cardamom pods (Yes I have cardamom pods in my kitchen.)
4 cinnamon sticks, 3 inches long
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1. Put the oranges in a saucepan and cover with water. Add the salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes or until the oranges are tender. Drain and cool.
2. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, sterilize your jars by boiling for 15 minutes. This recipe should make 4 half-pint jars but I always do an extra or two.
3. Cut the oranges in half crosswise (run the knife down the center of the orange) and then in very thin slices. You should have half-moon shapes that show the radiating segment lines. (So wish I had taken a picture.)
4. Combine sugar, brown sugar, vinegar, water, corn syrup, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns in a large saucepan. Stir over high heat until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes to mix all the flavours. Add the orange slices, cover and cook gently for 20 minutes. This means that there are small bubbles in the liquid – not no bubbles and not boiling. Remove the whole pot from the heat and let stand for 5 more minutes. Pick out the cinnamon and cardamom and throw them out.
**When you put the oranges into the liquid try to keep the halves together as you sliced them. They look prettier in the jar if the slices are all lined up next to their original neighbor.
**If the orange pieces start to really fall apart then it’s time to stop cooking. If you think there isn’t enough fiber-ey bits to make a nice pickle at this point then don’t bother canning them, just start again and cook for less time.
5. While the pickles are cooling heat up your lids and screwbands in a pot. You want the seals on the lids to be sticky.
6. Remove the hot jars from the canner and put them on a tea-towel that you don’t like very much. Remove the orange slices from the liquid with a slotted spoon and place them in the jars. Remember to try and keep like-slices next to each other so it will look pretty. You can really pack the slices down in the jars. Pour liquid and whole cloves over oranges up the shoulders of the jar. Process 10 minutes for half-pint and 15 minutes for pint jars.
Make It For Me Now 