Sweet Potato & Corn Chowder

It's no secret I love soups, and needed to use up some more raw milk have still been in a happy autumn mood which makes me turn to them more. I can tell it's not just me, as others are also changing their recipes from summer fruits and salads to more hearty items like this chowder.

I've also been testing out new autumn cookie recipes for my Etsy store, but haven't found any winners yet. I'll let you know what I come up with though. I have been stocking up on making apple butter and am thinking about adding some other flavors to the mix since it seems to be the most viewed. By the way, if anyone has tips for finding eco-friendly boxes for goodies, be sure to let me know. I'm still shopping around.

It's great to have the house full of all these wonderful flavors from the sweet treats and hearty soups. This soup has a nice southwestern kick from the spices added, and chilies can even be added to have another layer of warmth. I really enjoyed using sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes for a different taste and texture. They were a little sweeter and softer, which balanced the spices nicely. I added black beans for the protein since I savored the soup as a meal in itself. And the toppings can be as diverse as anything you enjoy on a burrito or taco. Even though I added a modest topping of cheese in the photo, I actually like to sprinkle it evenly over the top and wait for it to all melt together into a gooey topping for each delicious bite.

Sweet Potato & Corn Chowder

Printable Recipe

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 large sweet potatoes, medium chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

6 cups raw milk

2 cups fresh corn

2 cups black beans, already cooked

garnishes: shredded cheese & homemade tortilla strips ( also: sour cream, cilantro, & lime juice)

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the olive oil.

Add the sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic and sweat for 5 min. Add the spices of cumin through kosher salt and continue cooking for 5 min. Next add the flour and stir until evenly combined.

Then add the raw milk slowly as not to cool the pot completely, turn up the heat to high and allow to boil.

Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to a low setting until tiny bubbles remain. Allow it to reduce for 20 min.

Then add the corn and black beans and cook for 5 min. Remove to serving bowls and garnish as desired. 

To make homemade tortilla strips, slice a tortilla into equal pieces and broil in the oven for 1 1/2 min.

~Yields 4 hearty servings.

~Original by Brie.

Foodie Fights 2010: Battle 11 - Sweet Potato & Coffee: Sweet Potato Coffee Cake

Foodie Fights! I've been waiting to do battle for months and finally got a chance to sign up and was chosen for Battle 11 - Sweet Potato and Coffee. My recipe is up against 5 other food bloggers to see who will be declared the winner! This is like an online version of 'Chopped'. Make sure to visit the Foodie Fights website and vote for my creation!

I love using sweet potatoes since they are one of Guy's favorite ingredients. He's had all kinds of sweet potato creations so I'm constantly looking for new ways to use them. Since coffee was the second required ingredient, I immediately thought of coffee cake. We have not paired those two together before, and it sounded delicious!

I had so much fun making this coffee cake from scratch. I had to start with two large sweet potatoes and prepare them for mashing. I cut them up into little pieces to make boiling go faster, plus it was going to get mashed up anyway! Boil the sweet potatoes on high for 30 min, drain off the water, then mash with a slotted spoon or fork.

The next important step is to drain the excess water from the sweet potatoes so the coffee cake isn't soupy.

Place a towel on the counter, then several paper towels and scoop the mashed sweet potatoes on top. Next add another layer of paper towels and a second hand towel on top. Press down gently to spread the sweet potatoes thinly and drain the water.

The next step was the grind the coffee to use in the center layer of the cake. I chose an organic coffee named "Danish Pastry" since it was a mild roast with a sweet aroma.

The house was starting to smell really good! Now it was time to start assembling the layers for the coffee cake...

Sweet Potato Coffee Cake

Printable Recipe

Filling

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp ground coffee (Danish Pastry)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Streusel

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup turbinado

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan, then pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Cake

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter

1 cup turbinado

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes

Preheat the oven to 375*F, making sure a rack is in the center of the oven, and butter a 9" baking pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients of flour through salt and set aside. In a mixer, blend together the butter and turbinado. Next add the eggs one at a time, and then mix in the milk, oil, vanilla, and sour cream. Then add the sweet potatoes.

Next, slowly add the dry ingredients until just incorporated.

Pour half the batter into the greased pan, then spread all the filling evenly over the batter.

Then pour the remaining batter into the pan and spread evenly. Add all the streusel on top and spread to cover the entire cake.

Place in the oven and bake for 90 min.

Allow coffee cake to cool before cutting.

Mmmm, sweet potato coffee cake. The house filled with such a divine smell, our mouths were watering and the cake couldn't cool off fast enough for us to dig in.

The title may not be flashy, but the taste sure is. You can smell the cardamom and nutmeg melding with the coffee and milder sweet potato before you even take a bite. The coffee and sweet potato are not lost in the cake and are able to create a marriage of flavor with each other and the spices. The streusel and filling satisfy your craving for something crunchy, hitting those bits of coffee, while your teeth sink slowly through the smooth sweet potato cake. Oh, it's heavenly!

The center filling left a beautiful, fragrant swirl through the middle of the sweet, dense cake.

Wanna bite?

Thank you for viewing my entry for Battle 11 - Sweet Potato & Coffee. Please visit the Foodie Fights website and vote for me!

Sweet Potato Bread

I love me some sweet potatoes. We have so many laying around from after Thanksgiving, I've been trying to come up with creative ways to use them up. Smashing and casseroles were out since we had so much of that last week. And roasting them alone seems anticlimactic (although still tasty!). I have a ton of flour sitting in the pantry, so I decided to see if a quick bread loaf was possible with other items laying around the house.

I couldn't help myself and did roast some sweet potatoes before mixing them into the batter. I kept some to the side and munched on them while preparing the bread. I just love the sweet, caramel potato smell that emanates throughout the house while they slowly tenderize in the oven.

I love the consistency of this bread. It reminds me of zucchini bread density, where it's not a solid bread, but it also doesn't taste or feel quite like a cake. The sweetness is also subtle and not overpowering. I spread some butter on top of my warm slice and sat down to slowly enjoy the mellow flavors. This works wonderfully as a snack, dessert, or tasty breakfast.

If you have some plain pecans or caramel walnut pieces laying around, those would be fabulous on top.

Sweet Potato Bread

Printable Recipe

2 medium sweet potatoes

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cupturbinado

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Peel and roughly chop the sweet potatoes. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread evenly on a cooking sheet. Roast for 30min until tender.

In a medium bowl, sift together the ingredients of flour through the baking powder and set aside. Prepare a loaf pan by coating all sides with butter and set aside.

Once the sweet potatoes are ready, combine the wet ingredients (sweet potatoes, and turbinado through eggs) in a mixer and blend until fairly smooth, although small sweet potato pieces will remain. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Bake at 350*F for 60min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow it to cool in the pan before slicing.

~Yields 1 loaf.

~Adapted from Stylish Cuisine and Bread + Butter.

See that shadow there on the left? That would be my dog's nose a millisecond before she grabbed that bite on the fork. She's never done that before. I think some of those dogs at the park are a bad influence. I'll have to cut down on her fraternization time or at least quiz any dogs for their intention of playing with my dog from now on. Sigh, kids.