Purple Sweet Potato ‘Hummus’

December 30, 2020 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Here’s my last recipe for the year 2020! Well, technically this was scheduled to go up earlier towards the beginning of the month, but with other commitments, both personal and work, and the festive season, I haven’t had the time to write this post and prepare the other recipes that I had wanted to share with everyone on the blog. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas despite the circumstances, and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Traditional hummus directly translates to chickpeas and is a dip, spread, or savoury dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. It is popular in the Middle East and in Middle Eastern cuisines around the globe. It can also be found in most grocery stores in North America and Europe.

Although multiple claims of its origins exist in various parts of the Middle East, the earliest known written recipes for a dish resembling hummus are recorded in cookbooks written in Cairo, Egypt, in the 13th century. The full name of the prepared spread in Arabic is ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna which means ‘chickpeas with tahini’.

But here’s a playful PURPLE alternative that’s perfect as a fun snack, appetizer, breakfast, or a light meal. This Purple Sweet Potato Hummus is a legume-free version of a traditional hummus for those who simply prefer it legume-free and/or because of allergies. Though chickpea-free, it still incorporates the flavours of tahini and spices in this ‘hummus’.

Tahini is a condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame. It is served by itself (as a dip) or as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ganoush, and halva. If you can’t find tahini in stores, don’t worry because you can easily make it at home, which is what I did. Even if you can find them on the shelves of your local grocer, I highly recommend making your own so that you won’t have a jar of tahini sitting in your fridge waiting for it to go off because you won’t ever use it again – maybe. Just make enough for a one-off recipe.

Also, have you ever tried sweet potato… on toast? Put a vibrant twist to your morning toast with this complex carbs on carbs combination! *cheeky grin* It’s one of those combinations that surprises you just how good it is, together. Aside from its vibrant colour, it’s gluten free, paleo, and comes together with less than ten ingredients you probably have on hand or have easy access to from your local grocer. You may also substitute the purple sweet potatoes for other colour variants such as orange, yellow, or white, whatever is available locally.

Before we dive into tonight’s recipe, please take the time to check out the original recipe where I drew my inspiration from over on Flora & Vino by Lauren.

PREP TIME 30 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS

For the homemade tahini

1 cup sesame seeds, hulled
2 to 4 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt, optional

For the sweet potato hummus

1 cup cooked and roughly mashed purple sweet potatoes*
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp ground cumin
Filtered water or unsweetened almond milk, as needed
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Wholemeal bread slices
Fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Ground paprika
Roasted pistachio nuts
Toasted cumin seeds

METHOD

Homemade Tahini: Add the sesame seeds to a wide, dry saucepan over medium-low heat and toast, stirring constantly until the seeds become fragrant and lightly coloured (not brown), for 3 to 5 minutes. Sesame seeds can burn very quickly so keep an eye on them and be careful.
Transfer the toasted sesame seeds to a baking sheet or large plate for them to cool down completely.
Once cool, add the sesame seeds to the bowl of a food processor then process until a crumbly paste forms, about a minute.
Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil then process for 2 to 3 minutes more, stopping to scrape the bottom and sides of the food processor a couple times. Check the tahini’s consistency. It should be smooth, not gritty and should be pourable. You may need to process for another minute or add the additional tablespoon of oil.
Taste the tahini for seasoning then add salt to taste. Process 5 to 10 seconds to mix it in. Set aside until ready to use.**
Purple Sweet Potato ‘Hummus’: Add the mashed purple sweet potato, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and cumin to a high speed blender or food processor and pulse until well-combined and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed to recombine.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to the mixture. Taste and adjust if needed, i.e. add more lemon for brightness, cumin for spice, and tahini for creaminess. If the mixture is too thick, add filtered water or unsweetened almond milk in 1 tablespoon increments to reach your desired consistency.
Serve with toast and top with your choice of toppings. I went with pistachio nuts, ground paprika, a sprinkle of toasted cumin seeds, and fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Notes:

* To cook the sweet potatoes, scrub and peel them, then cut the flesh into large cubes. Fill a large pot with an inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the sweet potato cubes to a steamer basket and steam in the pot for about 7 to 10 minutes until the flesh is very tender when pierced with a fork. Drain, place the cooked sweet potato in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.
** Store any leftover tahini covered in the refrigerator for one month. You may notice that it separates over time, like a natural peanut butter would. If this happens, give the tahini a good stir before using.
Store leftover Purple Sweet Potato Hummus in the fridge for up to one week.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Purple Sweet Potato Rösti Eggs-in-a-Hole

Purple Sweet Potato Rösti Egg-in-a-Hole

December 17, 2020 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! How is it that we’re already more than half way through the last month of 2020? Where did the months in quarantine go by? Who would’ve thought that staying at home, isolated from the outside world, would actually fly by this quickly?

To be honest, never did I once feel a day go by so slowly. I’ve experienced slower days when actually in the office – the type where I’d look at the clock and it’d read 3pm. An hour later (or so I thought) and it would only read 3:05pm. At home, I’d look at the clock and it’d be 9am; 5 minutes later and it’s already 11am.

Firstly, I’d like to apologise for not uploading a new recipe on the blog for the past two weeks. I actually had this recipe ready to be posted in the first week of December, but at the last minute, I was invited to join two Noche Buena (Christmas Feast) Challenges. Here are my two entries for two separate challenges:

Left: Christmas ‘Spaghetti’ with Meat-free Baubles for the #LODINGNocheBuena Challenge

The theme for this challenge was ‘Christmas Essence on a Plate’. We had to prepare a Pinoy Noche Buena dish, entailing the story behind it. I decided to take a Classic Pinoy Spaghetti and put my own healthy twist to it (you can read the full story on my Instagram account. This was a challenge set by The Official LODI LPG to the Food IG Community and I’m proud to say that I bagged the top spot and won a plus 3,000php cash!

Right: Potato ‘Wreath’ Salad for the #WVNocheBuenaCookOff2020

The theme for this cook off was ‘Christmas Like No Other’. We had to prepare a dish that’s always present on our Noche Buena table and describe how this year’s Noche Buena celebration will be different from the previous ones. This is a campaign spearheaded by World Vision Philippines to help provide Noche Buena packs to World Vision registered children and families in the Philippines. The winners for this cook off will be announced on December 22, 2020!

You can find the recipes to both my entries by clicking on the links that will direct you to my Instagram page.

So here’s a little insight first and foremost, I initially wanted to serve this dish with some smoked salmon to bulk up this brunch dish. However, since I couldn’t seem to source any from the various grocery stores I’ve been to over the course of a month, I then decided to make my own smoked salmon at home after coming across a video on how to DIY without a smoker. Of course, I got lazy and scraped the whole idea of adding smoked salmon to the dish and kept it ovo-vegetarian instead for a simple and light brunch.

Rösti or rööschti is a Swiss dish that is made of potatoes in the style of a fritter. The potato, either parboiled or raw, is coarsely grated, and seasoned with salt and pepper. They are then shaped into rounds or patties and fried in either oil or butter. Rösti are most often pan-fried and shaped in the frying pan during cooking, but they can also be baked in the oven. Although the most basic of rösti consists of nothing but potato, various ingredients can be added, such as bacon, onion, cheese, apple, and/or fresh herbs. And that’s exactly what I did to put a little spin on a traditional potato rösti…

Keeping in line with our violet theme to end the year, I substituted regular potatoes for purple sweet potatoes instead and added an ‘egg-in-a-hole’ twist. An egg-in-a-hole is traditionally a piece of bread with an egg in the center, cooked with a little butter or oil. Serve with some pan-fried cherry tomatoes and asparagus on the side and you’ve got one heck of a brunch. Feel free to add any meat of choice to bulk up your brunch meal.

Newsflash! Breakfast just got a <em>hole</em> lot more interesting!

See what I did there? *cheeky wink*

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 25 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For the sweet potato rösti

2 cups shredded purple sweet potatoes (about 4 small-sized sweet potatoes)
1 large free-range egg
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil, for frying

4 large free range eggs
Asparagus
Cherry tomatoes
Chives or parsley, chopped
Lemon slice

METHOD

Wrap the shredded sweet potatoes in a clean cheesecloth and wring out any excess moisture from it until dry. Place in a large mixing bowl and add one egg, garlic, onion, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high and add oil. Add half a cup of the shredded sweet potato mixture in an even layer and cook for approximately 2 minutes or until golden and crisp. Flip and use a round cookie cutter to remove the center of the rösti.
Drop an egg in the center of the rösti and cook until the whites are set. Remove the rösti from the pan and repeat with the remaining sweet potatoes until all are cooked.
Top with fresh chives or parsley, and salt and pepper. Get creative at this point and serve with your choice of veggies; I went for some pan-fried asparagus and cherry tomatoes. Enjoy!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Creamy Parmesan Sauce, Danablu & Pistachios

November 4, 2020 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone and a Happy November to all! I honestly didn’t think that I would be spending my birth month still under general community quarantine, but at least it means that we’re still taking safety precautions… Or are we really? I went grocery shopping over the weekend, and it seemed like people weren’t keeping their distances. I was queuing up at the pharmacy and though there were evident markings on the floors on where you should stand, this one lady behind me kept standing right behind me. The security guard had to tell her to follow the markings.

Mini introductory tangent aside, gnocchi (pronounced ni-yok-ee; singular gnocco) are a variety of pasta consisting of various thick, small, and pillow soft dough dumplings that are primarily made by combining potatoes, flour, and egg, but may also be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, breadcrumbs, cornmeal, or similar ingredients. The dough for gnocchi is most often rolled out before it is cut into small pieces about the size of a wine cork. The little dumplings are then pressed with a fork or a cheese grater to make ridges that can hold sauce. Alternatively, they are simply cut into little pillows.

Gnocchi are generally homemade in Italian and Italian-immigrant households. They may also be bought fresh from specialty stores. Packaged gnocchi are widely available either refrigerated, dried, or frozen, if industrially produced. Like many Italian dishes, gnocchi have considerable variation in recipes and names across different regions. Gnocchi are commonly cooked on their own in salted boiling water and then dressed with various sauces depending on the type of gnocchi and recipe used. Common accompaniments of gnocchi include melted butter with sage, and pesto.

For tonight’s recipe, I decided to put a little spin to it by using sweet potatoes instead or regular potatoes. In addition, since it’s a new month and therefore a new colour theme on Amcarmen’s Kitchen, I specifically used Japanese purple sweet potatoes that I sourced from PruTazan, for my last colours of the rainbow theme for the year! That’s right, for the month of November and December, I will be sharing violet recipes with you guys.

Also known as Murasaki Imo, which means “purple potato” in Japanese, contains dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, and minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. The flesh also contains anthocyanin, a naturally occurring antioxidant that gives the tuber its purple hue. They are used in a variety of culinary applications including desserts and snack foods and are valued for their sweet flavour and high antioxidant content. They are also commonly dried and turned into powder for use as a natural food colouring.

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 1 HOUR | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For the sweet potato gnocchi

1 kg purple sweet potatoes
3/4 cup all purpose flour, plus more if needed as well as for dusting
1 large free-range egg
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the creamy parmesan sauce

250ml all purpose cream
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 small red onion, finely minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Chives, finely chopped
Danablu Cheese, crumbled
Pistachios, roughly chopped

METHOD

Sweet Potato Gnocchi: Bake the sweet potatoes in a preheated oven at 230C (450F or gas mark 8), for 45 minutes or until completely tender when pierce with a fork. Once done, set aside to cool.

Note: Japanese purple sweet potatoes are best steamed or roasted. When boiled, they will lose their purple hue. So to retain their vibrant colour, they should be roasted or steamed.

Once cool enough to handle, peel the skins off the sweet potatoes and in a large mixing bowl, roughly mash them using a fork. Add the flour, egg and season with a touch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring the mixture together to form a dough.
Gently fold and press the dough a couple of times, adding flour as necessary if the dough feels sticky. Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Cut the dough into four equal parts and form each quarter into a ½-inch diameter log using the palm of your hands.
Cut each log into 1-inch pieces and then press over the tine of a fork to create ridges. Transfer to a baking sheet dusted with flour and repeat with the remaining dough. I managed to make about 76 pieces of gnocchi with this recipe, more or less depending on how you roll them out/cut them.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Working in batches, add the gnocchi to the pot, gently stirring once or twice to prevent them from sticking. Cook until the gnocchi floats to the surface, about 3-5 minutes, and then cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove using a slotted spoon and transfer to a tray lightly drizzled with oil. Set aside.
Creamy Parmesan Sauce: Heat about a tablespoon of cooking oil over medium-high, in a medium-sized pan. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Immediately add in the onions and continue to sauté until fragrant and slightly golden in colour and onions have softened and begin to go translucent, a further 45 seconds.
Add the cream and season with a touch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix and bring to a gentle simmer. Once simmering, add in the parmesan cheese. Mix until the cheese has melted and then remove from the heat.
Assemble: Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium-high. Working in batches again, add the gnocchi to the pan and lightly fry until golden brown in colour.
Spread the creamy parmesan sauce on a serving dish, and place the pieces of fried gnocchi on top. Add crumbles of Danablu cheese* (or any other type of blue cheese) and top with roughly chopped pistachios, and chives.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

This recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi creates a vibrant and eye-catching dish that is as visually pleasing as it is delicious. You get the best of both worlds with the light, soft-pillowy interior and golden-crispy exterior in every mouthful. These gnocchi are a touch sweeter than those made from regular potatoes, and therefore are best complimented by salty and savoury flavours, like a Creamy Parmesan Sauce. Sharp, rich, and bold especially with the danablu cheese. Balance it out with a fresh squeeze of lemon juice to cut through the creaminess, and you’ve got yourself a killer dish!