Sweeter Sweet Potatoes & Pre-Breakfast Gambling

Well, Thanksgiving is two weeks away and the one thing on everyone’s mind (well, other than the super classy Little-Miss-I’m-Down-on-Gay-Marriage-but-Cool-with-Sex-Tapes, “new” skin flick, coincidentally surfacing right before her book drops) is what their turkey’s getting stuffed with…get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about a bird.

As I mentioned on Saturday, the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, I think I got a little ahead of myself with everything I tried to cook. This time, I’m going to make sure my plan of attack is as perfect as it can be. This however, may prove to be easier said than done considering the other thing that happened the last time I was out there was found myself clutching betting slips in front of the television when I should’ve been in the kitchen. I was up at seven in the morning; not to pull my turkey out of the brine, begin cutting Brussels sprouts or peeling potatoes; but to head over to Red Rock Casino to place a couple bets on the Thanksgiving Day NFL games.

The kind of cool thing about visiting Las Vegas during the winter months; or any part of the West Coast for that matter; is that if you wake up at ten on a Sunday; you can roll out of bed and start watching football because it’ll be one o’clock back East. So that morning, I was awake early; wiping the crust out of my eyes with brine-smelling fingers; and driving down to the casino with BC and my step-dad.

I was too preoccupied with thoughts of the turkey and when to start assembling my Sweet Potato S’Mores to worry about spreads. Okay, that’s not entirely true considering I used to write a pretty dedicated little football blog, so I decided on a 3-team parlay, selecting the Colts over the Falcons, the Cowboys over the Jets and the Lions over the Packers because I didn’t think Favre could cover the spread. Things were looking good until the Packers kicked a meaningless field goal, extending their lead from eight points to eleven and giving me the “Joan Collins Special.”

In the wake of that disappointment, I turned my attention to assembling my S’Mores. I’m not exactly sure when the idea came to me, but at some point I decided I wanted to combine what I thought most people liked about lightly candied yams, with the hint of nutmeg and orange my mother used to make; with the melted marshmallows that top whipped-and-mashed sweet potatoes my aunt makes almost every year.

The night before Thanksgiving I sliced sweet potatoes into thin pieces and quickly poached the slices in a combination of orange juice, brown sugar and orange zest. Then I put them in the refrigerator overnight until I was done donating money to the casino re-beautification fund. Then I crushed graham crackers, and sliced marshmallows for the S’Mores. I placed two slices of marshmallow on each slice of sweet potato and then topped it with another piece; before sprinkling butter and graham crackers over the top and placing the “sandwiches” in the oven. What follows is the S’More recipe I’m planning on using this Thanksgiving, not the one I used a couple years ago. Bear in mind, this is a two-day recipe; with the candying, or braising, taking place the day before Thanksgiving and the assembly of the S’Mores happening the next day. This allows the sliced sweet potatoes to firm up overnight and should make them easier to handle when applying the marshmallows.

Sweet Potato S’Mores

6 Sweet Potatoes, peeled & sliced into ¼ inch rounds*

For the braising/candying liquid:
2 Oranges, juiced and zest reserved
2 Cups, Orange Juice
1 Cup, Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Fresh Ground Cinnamon
1 TBSP Fresh Ground Nutmeg
1/8 Cup, Vanilla Extract

For the S’Mores:
½ Bag Marshmallows or 1 Jar Marshmallow Fluff
1 Cup, crushed Graham Crackers
4 TBSP Melted Butter (optional)

Day 1:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Dissolve the brown sugar in the orange juice, then bring to a simmer adding the zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes, or until mixture has reduced slightly.
Arrange sweet potato slices in a baking dish and pour orange juice mixture over them. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and allow to cook in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until sweet potatoes pierce easily but retain their shape.
Remove potatoes from oven and uncover, allowing to cool completely before placing in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F (although in truth, your oven should probably already be on)
Melt the marshmallows in a microwave-save bowl and place in a pastry bag using a spatula, or simply place the Fluff in the bag (a spoon or small offset spatula can be used if you do not have a pastry bag).
Remove sweet potatoes from refrigerator and arrange half of the slices on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Spread or pipe marshmallow over each slice, topping with the reserved slices and sprinkling with crumbled graham cracker. Drizzle melted butter (if using) over the top of the S’Mores, then bake for 20 minutes, or until tops of S’Mores are golden.

* Extra sweet potato pieces (from the ends, or pieces too small to use for sandwiches) can be saved for a sweet potato pie or casserole.

If You Want to Help Me, Stay Out of My Kitchen

Sweet Potato S'Mores, from like Thanksgiving 2007 (?)

The five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are easily my favourite time of the year. The weather has gotten colder, but not oppressively cold like February; the clocks have just been turned back so the days and nights are still not totally out of whack and most importantly…there’s the food.

Last Thanksgiving I was working, so I think it was Thanksgiving 2007, I was in Vegas at my step-brother, BC’s, place cooking dinner for he, my mom, step-dad and a couple of BC’s friends.

I wanted to blow the doors off and cook an amazing meal, a meal they wouldn’t forget and I think I got a bit ahead of myself and probably cooked the meal I wanted them to like rather than the meal I truly thought they would like. My mother had made sure we could get a Kosher turkey in Vegas, which I brined overnight; I made sweet potato S’Mores; a pecan-sage stuffing with pork sausage; a Chicory salad with candied walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, raisins and a sherry-orange vinaigrette; roasted garlic mashed potatoes; and a bunch of stuff I can’t even remember.

I was definitely a terror in the kitchen. I was young and cocky and basically saw my family members as a hindrance rather than as free labour there to assist me with the peeling of potatoes, melting of marshmallows and washing of Frisée. Being the crazed maniac I was, I carried my behavior into Christmas; where I had everything timed out to the minute…cooking a coursed out Christmas dinner with several dishes, each with multiple components and all of it cooked by me alone. At one point, my mother popped her head in the kitchen and asked if there was anything she could do to help. Now in my defense, I will say that I had planned everything to a T, and knew the minute everything would be ready for our 4 o’clock start time and my mother had been back and forth in the kitchen to ask if we were still on schedule. So when she popped her head in the kitchen around ten past three to ask if she could help; I answered her with the only thing that came to mind, “if you want to help me, stay out of the kitchen until 4 PM when the food’s on the table.” In hindsight, it was definitely not the way to talk to my mother, on Christmas Day, no less…and it got me temporarily banned from her kitchen.

This year, I plan on doing it right. I’ll be in Vegas again, and this time, BC, if you’re reading this…I’m putting you to work! I’m also going to be nice, I’m not going to freak out and shoo my family out of the kitchen, and most importantly, I’m going to listen to their ideas; although I am going to do the S’Mores again.

Next Time: Sweet Potato S'Mores, Playing with Knives & Gambling Before Breakfast

Ditch the Dog, Keep the Baby

This is just a quick little rant because it’s been a while since I’ve posted something and I’ve got a couple things in the hopper, including a piece about Thanksgiving. But until then, let’s talk about dogs and babies.

About a year ago towards the end of brunch service Dopp and I were standing around looking out at the floor while I cleaned up and seasoned a 30 pound beef shoulder to make a Pot Roast. The couple walked by with a big shaggy dog, looked at the menu box and walked inside. Dopp and I shot the two of them a look that said, “maybe you and your shaggy dog should turn around and go back where you came.”

Look, I’m no Mike Vick; I love dogs and Dopp has two that he used to walk during family meal. But when your dog walks into a place that’s serving food and around people eating, that’s no bueno. So lucky for us, and the couple in question, they left before Dopp and I had to get all “spicy” on them and ask them to leave. But they came back…with a crying baby in tow.

Anyway, I was checking out something on Yelp the other day and read this two star review of a place that I’m not particularly fond of. This chick complained that they made her “tiny Chihuahua sit outside the fence” and that “they didn’t even give our dog a bowl of water!!!!!” Well, heavens to Betsy, they didn’t give Fido a bowl of water? How shameful! Look, it is not the responsibility of a restaurant to provide your doggie with water, when in all likelihood they’re doing you a favour letting your dog in, in the first place. I mean, if you bring a baby to a restaurant, you’re probably going to bring some baby food, right? Are you going to get upset when the waiter doesn’t ask the kitchen for some mashed apples and warm milk? In short, please, leave the mutt at home.