Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Praline Topping

SPC 4 life, baybeeeee.

This was so good during the holidays.  Even my picky eater loved it.

The crunchy praline topping was just the right thing to finish off the smooth, buttery taste of the sweet potatoes.

PSA:  Despite the contradictory markings required by the FDA on the can that say both names on different parts of the label, sweet potatoes and yams are 2 completely different vegetables.

Yes, they are both orange in color.

Yes, they are both root vegetables.

Yes, they are often used interchangeably in recipes.

But no, they evolved as two totally different things from separate parts of the world.

Sweet potatoes originated in Central and South America (now grown in the U.S.).

Yams originated in Africa and Asia.  They are more like a yucca root with a starchy, tree-barklike texture.

The more you know *rainbow*.

Anywhooooo, here is a recipe for our tasty "sweet potato" casserole.

*If you don't like your casserole very sweet, you can reduce the sugar by up to half.  We liked ours the sweet way.

Ingredients:

1 large 40-ounce can of cut sweet potatoes or 3 smaller 15-oz cans, reserve the liquid syrup

*1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup butter, melted (for topping)

Kosher Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 2-quart sized baking dish.

2. Empty the entire can of sweet potatoes (save liquid separately) into a medium saucepan

and bring to a boil.  Heat about 15 minutes, until hot and tender, while adding some of the reserved liquid to get it to a loose consistency- but not too drippy (like soft oatmeal).  Remove the pan from heat and mash up the sweet potatoes.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes with the white sugar, eggs, 1/3 cup butter, milk, and vanilla extract.  Add a pinch of salt to taste to balance out the sweetness. 

4.  Spread the mix evenly into the buttered baking dish.

5. To make the topping: In another bowl, mix the brown sugar, chopped pecans, flour, and 1/3 cup melted butter. You can also add a pinch of salt to this to taste.

6.  Spread the crumbly mix evenly over the sweet potato mixture.

7. Bake 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center of the casserole comes out clean.

Watch the Sweet Potato Casserole song by Flula Borg

JZ's Vegetarian Spinach Muenster Quiche

Everything below will be divided into 2 pies.
You will need:
2 standard pie shells (16 oz. each)
16 oz. grated Muenster cheese
2 packages frozen, chopped spinach
A big onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon (+/-) chopped garlic
Olive oil for saute
5 eggs
A pinch of salt, to your taste

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Defrost and squeeze the liquid from the spinach and move to giant mixing bowl.
3. Saute the onion and garlic in a pan, over medium heat until soft and transparent. Let cool.**
4. Mix grated cheese into spinach.
5. When onions are cool, fold into spinach/cheese mix.
6. Beat eggs and gently add to the mix.
7. Pour the mix into equal parts into the pie shells.
8. Bake for about an hour, or until each pie firms up.  It may need longer, depending on your oven.

*Because these quiches are so thick, we bake them at a pretty low temp for a long time, to avoid overcooking on the outside and undercooking on the inside.  Depending on your oven, you might need to adjust the cooking time.

*Could you add an herb or spice?  Oh my, yes.  I tend to add a dash of nutmeg to spinach dishes.  But any kind of herb would probably be delicious...maybe a hint of curry?  Or oregano?  Or basil?  Yarp.

**Remember that part I mentioned about letting the sauteed onion mix cool off before adding it to the spinach/cheese mix?  I mean it. 
Hear me now and believe me later:  One thing you don't want is having hot onions melting super soft cheese prematurely and turning the whole deal into a globby, melted cheese disaster in a bowl before you pour it into the pie shells.  Not pretty.

Everyone in our house loves this kickass quiche...even our finicky toddler.
You could sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top, also, btw.

ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING:
After you take the quiche out of the oven, let it sit and rest for about ten minutes.  The eggs will continue to cook.  Also, Jay says, "The cheese needs to calm down." What he means is that the cheese is too hot, angry, and melty, straight from the oven when it's nuclear hot.  Just like pizza, you can't cut a clean slice until the dish sits untouched for a bit.

A little something called quiche

My husband makes the best spinach-Muenster quiche in the history of spinach-Muenster quiches.
AND THAT'S THE FACT, JACK.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

I found this recipe after blackberries completely took over our yard and left it looking like a "Life After People" documentary.  I needed a way to use the berries, after all the trouble they'd caused us.  We collected a bunch of the ripe berries before taking down all of the vines.  This recipe is so simple and easy, and oh my...so good.  Don't forget to put a little vanilla ice cream on top when you serve it.  
Theoretically, you could make someone fall in love with you, using this cobbler.  It is just that dangerous.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt, maybe a tiny bit more.

2/3 cup milk

1/2 butter (1 stick)

16 ounces blackberries, fresh or frozen, cleaned and drained.

1. In a 2-quart baking dish, melt the butter.

2. In a separate bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the berries.

3. Carefully pour the batter over the melted butter in the baking dish. DO NOT STIR - you are gently layering it on top.

4. Add the berries on top of the batter, dotting them evenly over the whole thing.  (As it cooks, the berries will sink down and the batter will rise over them and cover them.  It's kind of miraculous how perfectly it happens.  See my picture below.)

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes, or until the crust turns a golden brown.

***For extra flavor, I added a pinch of ground cloves and a few drops of vanilla extract to the batter.

Roasted Cauliflower, yummmm.

Wash and slice your head of cauliflower into bite-sized chunks.
Toss with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, or whatever oil you've got.
I sprinkled a little Rosemary Lemon Sea Salt on the florets, that I recently made.
Spread the florets onto a baking sheet. Bake for about ten minutes at 450° F, which will be approximately the halfway point of cooking.  Then use a spatula and stir/turn the pieces.
Cook for another 7-8 minutes.
Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on, and maybe some chopped herbs.  I added some fresh basil and oregano from the yard.  Also, Trader Joe's has some awesome cheese, called Unexpected Cheddar, which is like a cross between a sharp white cheddar and parmesan.  Try that for a treat.
Bake until everything is melty and roasted.
That's it.  Yum.

Homemade baked black bean burgers: with or without avocados, they are superb

These are baked and delicious.

Once you eat these, you'll be hooked and not want to buy the frozen ones (that will suddenly taste way too salty and overprocessed) anymore.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped fine
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon (or as little/much as you like) chili powder
• 1/2 (or more) teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. Finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic (you can also use a food processor).  ***At this point, I suggest the optional step of sauteeing the peppers, onions, and garlic in a pan with a little olive oil and letting them cool.  It makes the burgers taste great this way, but you can also keep them raw when you add them to the black bean mash mix.***
4. Stir the vegetables into the mashed beans.
5. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and hot sauce.  Add a little salt at this point, if you like.
6. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together (we use our hands). Divide the mixture into four patties.
7. Place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10-11 minutes on each side.  Keep an eye on them until they feel thoroughly cooked.

Stuff we like to top the burger with, in various combinations:

Cheese
Avocados
Lettuce
Thinly sliced bell peppers - red or green
Sauteed mushrooms
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Mustard
Thousand Island Dressing
Pickles or relish
Fresh tomatoes

Sometimes we toast the buns.  Sometimes we like them soft and squishy.