Sweet Potato Discs

Believe it or not I can't ever remember having sweet potatoes until we came to Canada.  Now, I don't think a day goes by that I don't have at least one in my potato bag.  It doesn't matter how they come - mashed, as fries, shredded, wedges, mixed with other veggies - no matter how, I just love them.  These are flavoured very subtly with a cajun seasoning, but use your favourite seasoning.  They are so simple to make and are delicious either as a side dish or even just a big plate of them on their own with some chive dotted sour cream to dip into - yummy!!

Sweet Potato Discs
serves 4 as a side dish

2-3 medium sweet potatoes
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

• preheat the oven to 400 F, and place a wire rack over a large, rimmed baking tray;  set aside.
• wash the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch discs.  Place them into a large mixing bowl.
• sprinkle all the other ingredients evenly over the potato discs and using clean hands mix them thoroughly until each disc is completely coated.
• place the discs onto the wire racked baking tray, without overlapping.
• bake for 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through baking time, until browned slightly on the outside and the centres are soft.

 Sweet Potato Discs ingredients.

wash and slice the potatoes into 1/2 inch discs.

put the potatoes into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the remaining ingredients.

mix everything together so that each disc is covered thoroughly.

place onto a wire rack over a baking tray.

bake until browned on the outside and soft in the middle.

I served them alongside my Southwest 'Philly' Cheesesteak with some chive dotted sour cream for dipping.

Burgers

One of our local grocery stores had large 5lb 'sausages' of ground beef on sale the other day, and rather than just dividing it up and popping it in the freezer to be used later for a variety of delicious dishes, I decided today to use half of it to make my mini meatballs and the other half for these burgers.  The meatball mix makes delicious burgers too, but I wanted to try something a little different and if I do say so myself these came out great :o)

Burgers
makes 10 x 4oz burgers (1/4 lb)

2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) ground beef
2 Tbs Ranch style dressing
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbs red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

• in a large bowl, using clean hands, mix all the ingredients together until well blended.
• divide the mixture into 10 equal 'balls' of 4oz each - I found it easier to weigh them.
• flatten each ball to make a burger pattie about 1/2 inch thick, and using your fingertips press down in the centre of each pattie to make a dimple - this will prevent the bulge that you sometimes get when you cook fresh burgers.
• grill or fry the burgers over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes per side.
• serve on burger buns with all the trimmings.
• to freeze any uncooked burgers, put them in a large ziploc bag with wax paper between each burger.

 Burger ingredients.

mix everything together thoroughly

divide the mixture into 10 (4oz) balls and flatten into burger patties.

any that you aren't going to use immediately, stack with wax paper between, pop into a ziploc bag and freeze.

we had ours on burger buns (that I also made today), with provolone cheese and the usual trimmings, alongside my 'smashed' potatoes.

Christmas Day Roast Dinner

I apologies in advance that you're not going to get my usual ingredients, instructions and step by step photos for this post - quite frankly there was just so much going on in my little kitchen today that I would of probably ended up putting my camera down somewhere and roasting it with the potatoes!!!  So instead it's going to be a very short post just letting you know what we had (because honestly I was very proud of myself this year - my roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings especially came out just about 'perfect' and I promise that one day soon I will cook them again to let you know what perfection tastes like :o)

Our bellies were full of:
roast turkey
'perfect' roast potatoes
maple roasted parsnips and baby carrots
brussel sprouts in butter sauce
sage and onion bread stuffing
HUGE 'perfect' yorkshire puddings (best I've ever made!)
and of course.......turkey gravy

After the delicious breakfast that we'd had of eggs benedict my original plan to have a lunch-time Christmas meal was delayed (still too full of buttery hollandaise sauce) so we ended up having it at about 4 pm - luckily it was just Dean and I so we could have it whenever we wanted it :o)

I told you my yorkshire's were HUGE - take my word for it, underneath that behemoth in the middle of the plate there is turkey, parsnips and carrots too :o)

x  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL  x

Crash Hot Potatoes (from the Pioneer Woman)

There's not much more to say about these potatoes than....DE-LI-CIOUS!!!

I came across them from The Pioneer Woman's website quite some time ago and have been meaning to try them ever since, so when I decided to have my steak in mushroom sauce today, these were the first thing that popped into my mind to accompany it - thank you Ree for your inspiration :o)

Crash Hot Potatoes (from the Pioneer Woman)
Serves 4-6

12-14 whole new potatoes (depending on size)
3 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
herb of choice (I used chives)

• preheat oven to 450 F.
• drizzle approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto a baking pan; set aside.
• in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the potatoes under fork tender.
• drain the potatoes and place them on the baking pan with space between each one.
• using a potato masher, gently press down each potato until they split and flatten slightly.
• generously brush with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and herbs.
• bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

 hopefully you've all got a trusty old, scratched and battered saucepan like the one I use - I wouldn't be without it :o)

I only used foil on my baking pan, purely for easy cleanup.

press them with a potato masher until they split.

brush the tops with olive oil.

sprinkle with salt, pepper and whatever herbs you're using.

little, fluffy, flattened roast potatoes - yummy!!!