CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RECIPE

GET THE CURRENT ISSUE

FARMERS MARKET GUIDE

JOIN OUR EMAIL/NEWSLETTER LIST

EDIBLE GUIDES: LOCAL RESOURCES

EDIBLE DFW ON FACEBOOK

2 days ago

The Heritage Table
Do you love our bread pudding and chicken pot pie & have always wanted to make them at home? The latest fall issue of Edible Dallas Fort Worth features several classic The Heritage Table recipes as well as an article by Jessie 'Kerr' Hagan giving insight to what drives our passion daily for what we do. Pick up a copy when you join us for dinner or read online! ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

2 days ago

Edible Dallas Fort Worth
RECIPE ALERT!! Kvarøy Arctic Salmon #adDive into this flavor-filled Kvarøy Arctic Salmon dish that brings together a delectable trio of tastes...the citrusy-spiced salmon filet “en papillote” is paired with roasted seasonal veggies, on top of a hearty traditional bulgur salad full of locally-grown goodness. Even better, it’s quick to make!We teamed up with Kvarøy Arctic Salmon and Almog Peleg at Collin College Culinary to craft an autumn meal that’s delicious, beautiful and healthy. Kvarøy Arctic is a third generation family salmon farm in the Arctic Circle, where the waters are cool and clear, giving this beautiful fish a pristine, clean flavor. Add to this the wide range of health benefits you get by adding salmon to your weekly diet, and our recipe gives you more than just an elegant, tasty meal. Rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and various vitamins and minerals, this salmon is an excellent addition to any healthy diet and can help improve heart health, brain function, and overall well-being.You can find this yummy recipe (and learn more about where you can purchase Kvarøy Arctic Salmon) on our website: www.edibledfw.com/recipe/entrees/mediterranean-salmon-en-papillote/📸 by Jessie Hagan photography- - - - -#TasteTheArctic #KvaroyArctic #ArcticSalmon #SustainableSeafood #SustainableSalmon #Salmon #Sustainability #SustainableAquaculture #EdibleCommunities #EdibleDFW ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

3 days ago

Edible Dallas Fort Worth
One of the best annual Chef Competitions in the area! Okrapalooza 2023, benefitting Promise of Peace Gardens, held this year at Dallas College Culinary Pastry Hospitality, was again a showcase of local culinary talent and creativity!Hats off to the many volunteers, and to Favorite Brands, Crazy Water, Mijenta Tequila, Remington Vodka, T-Rex Pickles, Dallas College, and everyone who donated to the Silent Auction! Also thanks to Judges who had the hard job of deciding on a winner! #foodfestival #okrapalooza #edibledfw #chefcompetition #supportlocalfood #dfwfoodies ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

3 days ago

Edible Dallas Fort Worth
35+ wineries in the North Texas Wine Country welcome you to each of their unique tasting rooms for a special tasting of award-winning wines during the entire month of October! Wine tastings include a minimum of 3 tastes at each winery. Visit any or all wineries during the month of October and taste up over 100 wines made in the beautiful North Texas Wine Country! Scan your printed or digital QR code at your first winery visit to check-in and redeem your wine tasting passport. TICKETS and more info here: www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-wine-trail-tickets-663811085827Visit northtexaswine.com/wineries for a list of participating wineries, addresses, and hours of operation. ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

Not Your Mama’s Sweet Potatoes


photo: iStock.com/Zeleno

I don’t know why it took us all so long to come around to the greatness that is sweet potato. I mean, we all grew up with them, right? Seeing them underneath a blanket of gooey marshmallows at Thanksgiving—and maybe Christmas, too, if, like ours, yours was a redo of the turkey/stuffing line-up, but with the addition of a molded, wreath-shaped Jell-O “salad” in artificial seafoam green.

But that was it for the much-loved, quickly forgotten sweet potato. Sweet potato casserole was always heralded as such a special dish at our table. Yet besides those two days of the year, I never saw sweet potatoes. Not once. Not ever.

I’m not sure if sweet potatoes were scarce in Texas in the 1970s, or if it didn’t occur to anyone to do what we now do with almost everything— roast them. My mom told me recently that she couldn’t remember why she didn’t do more with sweet potatoes. Growing up, her mother served them sans marshmallows, simply sliced and baked. But even then, not very often, she remembers, because her brother and father didn’t like them. Or any other vegetable, apparently.

Fast forward to the early 2000s. I flew to Chicago to meet Charlie Trotter, the late superstar chef who was ahead of his time in so many ways. He loved vegetables, and long before plant-based was a thing, he was experimenting with them. After I observed him during service on a Saturday night, I wanted him to show me how to make a recipe that was inspired by his mom, so he took me into the kitchen and demonstrated a gratin Dauphinois, made with alternating layers of sweet potatoes and Russets, with cream poured between them. It was simple, elegant and perfect.

My grown-up love for sweet potatoes began right then, with Charlie Trotter at my side. I made Trotter’s gratin for my mom and dad one evening for dinner, without a recipe as much as a will to recreate the experience of elevating a vegetable that I dismissed completely— sweet potatoes—and turning it into something divine.

Plus I wanted to show my mom and dad that sweet potatoes could be more than a sugary holiday dish—and I did. They loved it.

“My grown-up love for sweet
potatoes began right then, with
Charlie Trotter at my side.”


Sweet Potato and Broccoli Hash
photo: Ellise Pierce

My love for sweet potoatoes—called patate douce in France—has grown exponentially since then. I went on to mash sweet potatoes with a little maple syrup and cacao nibs, a recipe I so loved that I put it in my cookbook. I’ve roasted them and smashed them and put them into almost everything I can think of. Biscuits. Soups. Pies. Even a vegetarian chili. I’ve made fries with them and put them into tacos. I do not go to the grocery without buying at least two because, like avocados and French coffee, they are a staple, something I consume with great frequency.

It’s funny how things change. One of my first years living in Paris, I went to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving, and volunteered to bring a side dish. I’d just gotten Ottolenghi’s new cookbook, Ottolenghi, still unreleased in the States, and inside I found a recipe for sweet potatoes not unlike the gratin that Charlie Trotter showed me more than a decade prior, but with sage leaves in between the layers.

I made it that year and every one aft er that. And when I do, wherever I am in the world, I think of Charlie Trotter, and my expat Thanksgivings, and the ones before that, too, with marshmallows on top.


FIVE SAVORY WAYS WITH SWEET POTATOES

Don’t wait for the holidays to eat sweet potatoes. They are as common as Russets, they’re good for us (orange color = beta carotene), they’re cheap—and they’re easy to cook. Soup them. Roast 1 pound each carrots, sweet potatoes and Russets in a 400°F oven with a drizzle of olive oil until lightly browned, 30 to 45 minutes. Put in the blender with the juice and zest of 1 orange, a little cumin and enough veggie stock to thin it out.

Make a hash. Roast your diced sweet potatoes in a 400°F oven for 30 to 45 minutes. Then throw them in a large skillet with a little olive oil, steamed broccoli florets, diced yellow onion, chopped fresh jalapeño and a couple handfuls of baby spinach thrown in at the end. Add cayenne if you want a little heat.

Rosti your sweet potatoes. With a julienne slicer, make lots of long thin strands of your sweet potato and then toss them in a bowl with a tablespoon or 2 of fl our and some sea salt and pepper. Put a little canola or peanut oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat and add spoonfuls of the potato strands, cooking until crisp on one side, and then the other.

Make sweet potato fries. Peel your sweet potatoes, cut them in wedges, then toss them on a large baking sheet with some olive oil and sea salt and pepper and bake in a 400°F oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake and stuff them. Prick your sweet potatoes all over with a fork and put them in a 400°F oven for 1 hour or until cooked through. Split open, and stuff with black-eyed peas, steamed broccolini and drizzle with chipotle yogurt (I use 1 to 2 chipotles in adobo and blend with 1 cup Greek yogurt).

+ posts

Ellise Pierce is the Cowgirl Chef and author of COWGIRL CHEF:
Texas Cooking with a French Accent (Running Press). Read her blog
(www.cowgirlchef.com), follow her on Twitter (@cowgirlchef) and Instagram
(cowgirlchef)

Scroll to Top