Cinnamon Honey Sweet Potato Pie

 

A classic recipe emerged from a trip to the local Farmer's market. Walnut Hill Farm had a plethora of earthy, massive sweet potatoes spilling out of buckets on the table so I picked up a few to work with. I also made a stop by one of my favorite vendors, Alfredo’s Honey, and picked up a tub of whipped cinnamon honey (I think I am working on my 7th tub from him).  The two market picks just seem to be a marriage made in heaven, right? Having not made a sweet potato pie before, I did a little research online and found a recipe that seemed to be in-line with what I had in the pantry and what I had picked up from the market.  I modified it slightly by using a homemade gluten-free crust which will be featured on glutenfreerichmond.com, my new website created with a fellow Richmonder and lover of all things tasty and gluten-free. I also changed up the cinnamon portions since I was working with a cinnamon flavored honey. Here’s my take:

Cinnamon Honey Sweet Potato Pie
Filling Ingredients:

2 large, roasted sweet potatoes removed from skin (about 3 cups)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup Alfredo’s local cinnamon honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup melted butter

Preparation:
Start by dry roasting the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in an oven set to 375° for about 50-60 minutes or until soft to the touch. Once cooled, scrape flesh from skin and place into a food processor, pulse until broken down. Add remaining ingredients, except butter and pulse until smooth. With the food processor on, drizzle in melted butter until combined.

Fill a par-baked, gluten-free pie crust (will fill a 10″ pie) and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean or the center of the pie should spring back when touched.

Honey & Cinnamon Pear Granola

Since I skipped the market this past Saturday for one last weekend at the beach, I decided to write about a treat I made from a previous pick-up. Knowing I have a tendency to let healthy eating go out the window when I visit the beach with friends, I wanted to make a healthy, crunchy snack that was portable and easy to share. Granola sounded perfect… sweet and crunchy but made with healthy oats, nuts and dried fruits. The binder is where the market item comes in, I used Alfredo’s Beehive whipped honey stirred into a delicious pear jam made by one of my parent’s friends – it smells like Christmas in a jar. Back to the honey though, I am sure you’ve seen the honey cart parked smack in the middle of the market with a beehive display and a kind man passing out samples. Be warned, if you sample you will buy! The honey is smooth, perfectly sweet and there are a few options to choose from.  As I mentioned before I choose the whipped option because the consistency is a little fluffier and I like the way it melts when it hits my mouth. Aside from eating it all by it’s lonesome, I’ve been baking away with it all summer (see the whole wheat muffins mix from a previous post) and it seemed like a perfect fit for a healthy granola.  Here’s what I did to achieve the right mix:
3 cups oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup chopped dried dates
1 cup golden raisins
4 tbsp whipped honey
3 tbsp pear jam (made with cinnamon)
3 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350° and start by combining the oats, almonds and sesame seeds in a large mixing bowl. I like to rough chop the almonds and here’s a tip, spread them in a thin layer on your chopping board rather than a pile and keep your knife tip on the down while running through the nuts. It’ll keep your kitchen free of little almond missiles. Next, over low heat, combine the honey, jam and butter until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool. Transfer to mixing bowl and stir until oats are coated thoroughly.
In a non-stick jelly roll pan (at least 9″x13″), spread the mixture into a thin layer and bake for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until oats are golden brown. Will still warm, sprinkle salt and cinnamon over the mixture. It will crisp as it cools down and when it is back to room temperature, add in chopped fruit. It will keep for weeks in an air tight container in the pantry. Enjoy and check out Alfredo’s Beehive next time you’re at SOTJ!

Sesame Pretzel Chicken with a Sweet Heat Sauce

I am always looking for new things to use as 'breading' for poultry or pork and, in my pantry, I had just the fix. When we went on vacation, I went a little crazy on the snack aisle, stocking up for the long plane ride and days on the beach. I happened to pick up sesame pretzels at Trader Joe's thinking they were peanut butter pretzels on sale. Wrong! No matter, they turned out to be tasty. With so many leftover though, I was looking for an innovative use and scored with a 'breaded' chicken dinner. These pretzels were multi-grain and packed quite a crunch so I pulsed them in the food processor until they were mostly crumbs, leaving a few larger pieces that aided in texture that resembled southern fried chicken. To pair with the sesame flavor, I opted for an Asian inspired sauce made from mustard, honey, crushed red peppers flakes and rice wine vinegar. Atop snow peas and mushrooms finished in sesame oil, this was a meal not soon forgotten. Here's the fix:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups sesame pretzel nuggets

3 tbsp sesame seeds

1 cup all purpose flour

1 egg

salt and pepper

Sauce:

1 tbsp whole grain mustard

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1/2 cup raw honey

3-4 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp red pepper flakes (less for less heat)

fresh cracked black pepper

Side:

canola oil

garlic clove

2 cups snow peas

5 baby bella mushrooms, quartered

sesame oil

toasted sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375° and start by using a basic breading technique for the chicken. First set up your breading stations with one plate for the ground pretzels mixed with the sesame seeds, one plate for flour seasoned with s & p and one bowl for the egg (beaten). When you are ready to go, pat the chicken breasts dry, season with salt and pepper and then start by dredging in the flour. Shake excess flour off and pull the chicken breast through the beaten egg. The last step is to lay the chicken breast in the pretzel mixture, pressing the crumbs over the entire surface on both sides. I wanted to retain the crunch of the larger pretzels pieces and simplify this dinner so I transferred the chicken breasts to an lightly oiled baking dish and baked them off for about 25-30 minutes.

The rest of the meal came together easily. All the sauce ingredients listed above go into a sauce pan on low heat and simmer away while the chicken cooks, stirring to help incorporate the honey with the mustard. About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, grab a sauté pan, add a little canola oil and a broken garlic clove. Over low to medium heat, add in the mushrooms and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the snow peas to gently warm. To finish, add a touch of sesame oil (a little goes a long way), a pinch of red pepper flakes and top with toasted sesame seeds. Plate the snow peas and mushrooms first, add the chicken on top and then smother in the sauce. Yum!

Whole Wheat Breakfast Muffins with Mix-Ins…Muffin-Top Shop Open for Business! (J/K, these are healthy)

I am trying to become a better baker...really, I am.  But, I am also trying to become a healthy meal-maker.  So, I found a traditional muffin mix recipe and modified it by reducing the sugar and substituting the butter (some).   I also used whole wheat flour which I am really starting to enjoy.   Give these a go, they are pretty tasty and you can feel good about it.

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup whipped honey

1/2 stick butter (I used 50/50 Smart Balance butter)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

Mix-ins - I had a few bananas-gone-bad, so I diced them up small and threw 'em in with some toasted walnuts.  This mix would be great with lots of fruit variations diced and folded in with almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.  One thing to keep in mind, this mix isn't super sweet so if you like the sugary goodness, try dusting powdered sugar on top of warm muffins or add a drizzle of honey.  Oooh, or a sugar glaze made from powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Yum!

Spoon into a muffin pan, 2/3's full in each cup and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Anyone tried using the cookie dough scoop from Crate & Barrel for batter?  Easy and clean!

Now go! And bake something healthy.