Sweet Potato – Page 2 – AMCARMEN'S KITCHEN

Hello Everyone! Oh wow – two words in and I’m already having a writer’s block! I literally just spent the last 20 minutes thinking about what to write after ‘Hello Everyone!’ In all honesty, there are definitely A LOT of things I can talk about to you guys, but the timing isn’t just quite right yet. You’ll probably only hear about everything that I have to share in September – is it worth the wait? Well maybe it’s more just for me as exciting things are about to unfold, maybe for Amcarmen’s Kitchen, but definitely on my personal life and adventures ahead!

So aside from that thing that I can’t tell you guys just yet, there’s actually nothing I can touch on at this moment and just realising what a boring week/weekend I had. Okay, just as I typed weekend out, I just remembered that it wasn’t all that boring at all. I met up with a couple of friends on Friday night to celebrate a birthday. The night was great – the usual good food, good company cliché but I thought that my food could have been a lot better to be honest. And of course, the cherry atop the cake was that of all places and of all times, my Boss had to have dinner at the same place, at the same time, and sit directly opposite the direction I was facing. Good times. Can’t escape. I remember one of my friends saying “Oh sh*t it’s my colleague” as he pointed out to my manager’s (my Boss’ daughter) husband, to which I responded to him “Oh sh*t it’s my Boss and his WHOLE family!” *insert cold sweat emoji* On Sunday night I met up with more friends at a friend’s open house for Raya which equated to more laughs and definitely great home-cooked food! The night ended young for me as I was for some reason immensely exhausted that day.

All that side and diving right into tonight’s recipe – I came across the original recipe by Willow over on Will Cook For Friends. I especially loved how she described that this was one of those ‘fluke recipes that came to [her] out of nowhere’ and I’m sure all foodies, home cooks, chefs, and probably anyone really has had one to these revelations(?) is this the correct word to use? Anyway, this is how I come up with so many different variations of stir-fries and weird combinations of food pairings (that actually do surprisingly work, but probably not for Gordon Ramsay) during my university days.

We’ve all stared into the black hole that is our fridge, as Willow describes:

Me: “Man, I really need to go shopping.”
Eggs: “We’re here! Pick us, pick us!”
Me: “I don’t want eggs… unless they were really, really awesome eggs!”
Sweet potato that’s been sitting on my counter for two weeks: “AHEM. I’ve got you covered.”

And so behold these wickedly delicious gluten-free and paleo Baked Sweet Potato Boats for a filling weekend (or even week day if you have the time) brekkie for champs!

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 80-95 MINS* | SERVES 2**

*Baking time time will vary depending on the size of your sweet potato.

**Half of a sweet potato with an egg in it for breakfast is already pretty filling, but if you’re serving these to particular bunch of super hungry people, then you might want to plan on a whole potato and two eggs per person. The recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, and so on.

INGREDIENTS

1 very large orange sweet potato, washed and scrubbed clean
2 large free range eggs
2 slices of bacon strips
Fresh chopped spring onions, for garnish
Ground sea salt and black peppercorns, to taste
Tabasco, Sriracha, or any other hot sauce, to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4).
Place the washed and dried sweet potato (whole) in a baking dish and into the oven. Bake for about 60-70 minutes, or until tender as time will vary depending on the size of your sweet potato.
Meanwhile, heat a small frying pan over high heat and cook bacon to your liking***. Remove from the pan once done and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain off excess grease. Set aside.
Once done, remove the sweet potato from the oven and cut it in half lengthwise. Using a pairing knife, carefully carve out a well in the center of each half, about as big as you think you’ll need for the size of your eggs. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and pour into the carved well. Season with a touch of salt and pepper.
Place the potato halves back into the baking dish, resting them against the side of the pan if needed to keep them from tipping and spilling any egg. Return to the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. I like my whites cooked with an oozy yolk!
Remove from the oven and crumble the bacon over the top. Serve with your favorite hot sauce, and a bit of freshly chopped spring onion to garnish. Enjoy!

***There are many ways in which we all prefer to cook our bacon, and there is no wrong way of doing so. You can do this in a pan on the stove like how I’ve done, or bake it in the oven. To bake the bacon, spread the bacon strips in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a sheet of foil for easier cleanup.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Salade Niçoise du Saumon Fumé

Hello Everyone! Man am I completely beat! Straight after work, I headed to the gym with my sister and my colleague Audry for an intense 2-hour Body Combat Session called “Combat Cancer” in conjunction with World Cancer Day. I can feel my leg muscles getting sore so I probably won’t be able to walk properly tomorrow morning. Also, can I just say that I have never sweated and smelled so much after that session. In addition, I completely forgot to bring makeup remover so I imagined eyeliner running down my face from the sweat. To my surprise, my makeup was still on point! Anyway, that aside, I’m glad that I had the time to write this post yesterday afternoon (it was a public holiday yesterday which meant no work! Most importantly, it was Brunei’s 32nd National Day).

So, it’s the last of our Healthy Eating journey for the month of February – of course the journey doesn’t completely end here as you should always be eating healthy! What I meant is that it’s the end of this theme for the blog. I will continue to share healthier recipes throughout the upcoming months in my blog, but focusing on other areas other than salads. Next month I will be sharing healthy smoothie recipes with you all; the last time I shared smoothies on my blog was back in October last year when I had Breakfast/Brunch Month on the blog. Hope y’all are excited for that!

Anyway, I came across this recipe – well more like I saw a photo of this dish on Instagram and was instantly drawn to the beautiful colours from the greens and tricolour potatoes. I scrolled down to look at what the dish was a non-traditional Niçoise Salad. I didn’t follow a particular recipe for this dish, but instead I looked at the photo and pulled out the obvious ingredients that I could see. I then search for a dressing to go with the dish and voilà – Salade Niçoise du Saumon Fumé non-traditionnel (Non-traditional Niçoise Salad with Smoked Salmon):

Salade Niçoise du Saumon Fumé

It is non-traditional because Salade Niçoise is typically composed of a salad of tomatoes, tuna (cooked or canned), hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, and anchovies, dressed with a vinaigrette. It is served variously on a plate, platter, or in a bowl, with or without a bed of lettuce. The salad may include raw red peppers, shallots, artichoke hearts, and other seasonal raw vegetables, but according to many sources, excludes cooked vegetables, such as green beans and potatoes, which are commonly served in variations of Salade Niçoise around the world. So, yes, this version of Salade Niçoise that I will be sharing tonight is definitely not a traditional one as you can tell – but it will definitely knock your socks off! I really like this salad, and the dressing/vinaigrette that I made to go with it. Hope you enjoy it too! Feel free to add other veggies to it as you wish… You know, whatever floats your boat kind of thing 🙂

Salade Niçoise du Saumon Fumé

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-20 MINS | SERVES 5-6

INGREDIENTS

For the salad

250g green beans, ends trimmed
250g mixed salad leaves, washed and drained
220g smoked salmon*
100g kalamata olives, sliced
3 large free range eggs, soft or hard boiled**
Potato varieties such as chat, sweet potatoes, and purple sweet potatoes (or a range of heirloom potatoes), peeled and cut into chunks

For the dressing

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3-4 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small red onion, minced
Pinch of ground black pepper

*Plain smoked salmon is fine, or you ca mix it up a bit and get herbed smoked salmon or with five peppers which is the one I used for this recipe.

**Bring a small saucepan of room temperature water together with the eggs up to a boil. Once boiling, the the heat off and let it sit for five minutes is perfect for a runny yolk (or cook as long as seven minutes for a more firmly set, but still spoonable, yolk). For hard boiled eggs, cover and let it sit for 8-10 minutes off the heat.

METHOD

Firstly, combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a medium-sized jar. Cover and shake well to combine the ingredients. Set aside. Tip: you can make the dressing in advance by a day or a few hours before serving to ensure that all the flavours infuse together. Keeps well in the fridge for up to a week if you have any leftovers. You can also add more olive oil and red wine vinegar throughout the week if you need more dressing.
Toss the potatoes in a little bit of ground salt and black pepper. Then place in a steamer and steam for about 10-15 minutes, or until tender but still a bit firm. Once done, remove from the heat and set aside.
Blanch the green beans in boiling water for about 5-6 minutes. Once done, transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. This ensures that you’ll have nice and crisp green beans in your salad.
Plate up accordingly and pour over the dressing. Share and enjoy with family and friends!

Salade Niçoise du Saumon Fumé