Sweet Potato Casserole

Image to come after it's done cooking

Sweet Potato Casserole
From Lisa's Kitchen

3 c sweet potatoes, mashed (2-3 large potatoes)
2 egg
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sugar
1 stick butter, divided
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1/2 cup nuts.

Beat together first 5 ingredients and half a stick of butter. Spread mixture into a greased pan (8 in square pan). Mix together remaining ingredients until well combined and spread over the sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 for 35-40 min.

My Notes:

I had never had straight sweet potatoes before Thanksgiving. I had them mixed in with things (brownies, thanks to working with a dietician), but never on their own. My stepmom made these for Thanksgiving, though, and I promised I would try them for her. I loved them. They're super sweet, and, as my dad says, almost like a dessert.

If you want to make them pareve, you can use soy milk and margarine. But it's just not the same.

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
Originally found at Keebler

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 egg
1 Pie Crust (Graham Cracker or Chocolate)*
1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually mix in sweetened condensed milk and 2 Tbsp lemon juice. Add egg, mixing until just combined. In a separate bowl, mix remaining tablespoon of lemon juice with raspberry preserves. Pour half of mixture into crust, then top with half the preserves. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture and remaining preserves. Use knife or spatula to swirl preserves into cream cheese mixture. Bake at 300 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes, or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack for one hour, and refrigerate for at least three hours.

My Notes:

I definitely thought the amount of lemon juice they called for was a bit excessive; my cream cheese mixture was very runny going in, so when I put my raspberry preserves on top, they sunk into the batter. That might have had to do with the fact that I don't own an electric mixer, so I didn't really beat my cream cheese til it was fluffy. I also didn't have much control over them, so I couldn't really swirl them very easily.

It looks pretty good, though, all things considered. My stepmom made this in a chocolate crust, and it was amazing. I made it in a regular graham cracker crust, and it was still good.

*If you don't want to buy one (or can't find one that's kosher, take a package of graham crackers, crush them, and then mix with half a stick of melted butter and a tablespoon or so of sugar.

Latkes!

Latkes
From Naomi's Kitchen

5 baking potatoes
2 eggs
1/4 onion, grated
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp chili powder
Oil for frying

Grate the potatoes, and squeeze them to make them as dry as possible. Mix with eggs, onion, flour, and seasonings.

Heat oil to about 350 degrees. Form potato mixture into patties and gently drop into oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes each side. Serve with sour cream and applesauce.

My Notes:

So, many months ago, I mentioned to my mom that I was going to try to make falafel. She suggested I contact one of her coworkers, Naomi, for her recipe, and then realized after I asked Naomi that she was thinking about latkes, not falafel.

I mixed up some more adobe sour cream (sour cream mixed with adobe chilis and sauce... a little goes a long way) and spiced up the latkes themselves with just a little bit of chili powder (you can't really taste it, it just adds a bit of a kick). They're marvelous.

Tilapia Sammies

Tilapia Sammies
Originally found in Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book (p 23)

4 tilapia filets
all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 sleeve saltine crackers
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1 cup sour cream (optional)
1 chipotle in adobo, plus 1 tsp sauce (optional)
Rolls

Preheat oven to 400 or broiler to high.

Season the tilapia filets with salt and pepper. Crush the crackers and mix with the paprika and cajun seasoning. Set up three dishes on the counter; in one, place the flour (enough to cover the bottom well), in the next, the eggs, and in the third the cracker mixture.

Dredge each filet in the flour, then in the eggs, and then coat liberally with the cracker mixture. In a saute pan, heat a small amount of oil, then place the filets in the pan. Cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through (about 3-4 minutes). Meanwhile, cut the rolls and heat in the oven until slightly toasted.

Optional sauce: Mince the chipotle well, then mix it with the sour cream.

Place a filet on each roll, and spread the sour cream mixture on the tops. Eat with lettuce, tomato, onion, avacado, etc, as desired.

My Notes:

Without the sauce, this is pareve. And yummy. I misread the recipe and didn't put enough of my cajun seasoning in, so I thought they were a little bland, but the sauce more than made up for it. I think I love these now.

Rachael's recipe also calls for limes, and I substituted cajun seasoning for seafood seasoning because I thought it sounded good. It also has a recipe for citrus honey slaw, but being that I'm not big on cole slaw, I skipped that.

Indonesian Chicken in Peanut Sauce

Indonesian Chicken in Peanut Sauce
Originally found at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup water
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp white wine vinegar

Place chicken, carrots, onions and garlic in slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together water, peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger and hot pepper flakes. Pour into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours (high for 2 hours) or until vegetables are tender and the chicken juices run clear. Add vinegar. Cover and cook for 10 more minutes. Serve over rice.

My Notes:

I didn't see the water when I initially found this recipe (because it wasn't listed in the ingredients, only in the text), so my solution was very thick. It still worked marvelously. I made this in my 4 quart slow cooker, so keep that in mind when figuring out how much to put in there. I also used onion flakes and dried garlic instead of fresh, mostly because I really hate chopping onions. It still came out beautifully. It was a little thick, and looked kinda gross because everything took on the same brown hue, but the chicken was super tender and it was all peanut goodness.

I will definitely be making it again.