Look Ma, We're in the New York Times!

Well, would you look at that. The New York Times done gone featured the little butter tutorial Kate and I whirred up. If there is anything to be nationally recognized for, might as well be mastery of butter.

Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Behold, a colorful vegetarian medley of awesomeness. This is a recipe takes the humble sweet potato to new heights with plenty of lime, cumin and cilantro. This couldn't be further from those marshmallow-topped Thanksgiving monstrosities. Though you'll definitely be giving some thanks to the enchiladas gods for this super healthy alternative.

Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Adapted from A Couple Cooks
Serves six

2 medium to large sweet potatoes (2 cups diced)
1 15 oz. can black beans
1/4 cup diced green chilies (canned)
1 medium onion
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
Juice of 1/2 a lime
3 cups salsa (homemade tomato and/or Trader Joe's Habanero & Lime)
8 oz. Colby jack cheese, shredded
6 flour tortillas
Salt and pepper
Bunch of fresh cilantro

1. Pre-cook the sweet potatoes. Many options here, including baking (best to do the day before), boiling (peel & chop, boil 15 minutes) or microwave (pierce and test every 3 minutes). Let hot potatoes cool, then peel and chop.

2. Prepare the filling: Finely chop the onion and cilantro. Drain and rinse the black beans. If making salsa, chop and mix separate tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt.

3. Assemble the filling: In a large bowl, combine the cooked sweet potato, black beans, onion, diced green chilies, lime juice, 1/2 tablespoon cumin, and 1 tablespoon chili powder. Mix to combine, and add a bit of salt and pepper.

4. Assemble the enchiladas:
–In a large baking dish, spread 1 cup of the salsa verde.
–Fill each tortilla with a scoop of the filling, add a handful of cheese, and roll it up.
–Place the enchilada seam-side down in the baking dish.
–Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
–When all enchiladas are in the dish, top with the remaining cup of salsa and the remaining cheese.

5. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Serve, garnished with extra chopped cilantro.

Do ahead: As a time saver, you could cook the sweet potato beforehand, and even prepare the entire filling in advance.

Glazed Salmon

If you don't subscribe to Cook's Illustrated, online or in print, you're doing your kitchen a disservice. I have to thank these food scientists for greatly improving the way I treat poor, defenseless salmon. Before this method came into my life, a fire alarm or two had been known to cry out in protest as the glaze burned away on the pan, while the salmon remained undercooked. Ouch.

And did you know? This method works with really any type of glaze. I'm pretty sure the key is the cornstarch, and fairly viscous sauce with which to glaze. Nothing liquidy here to get your glaze on.


Pomegranate & Balsamic Glazed Salmon
Cook's Illustrated (liberated from behind their firewall, whoops!)
Serves 4

Pomegranate & Balsamic Glaze (Thai variation listed below)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons pomegranate juice
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Pinch cayenne pepper

Salmon
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cornstarch
4 center-cut skin-on salmon fillets, 6 to 8 ounces each (equal size is key)
Ground black pepper
1 teaspoon oil of your choice


1. For the Glaze: Whisk glaze ingredients together in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat; simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

2. For the Salmon: Adjust rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine brown sugar, salt, pinch of ground pepper and cornstarch in small bowl. Pat salmon dry with paper towels and sprinkle brown sugar mixture evenly over top of flesh side of salmon, rubbing to evenly distribute.

3. Heat oil in 12-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place salmon, flesh-side down, in skillet and cook until well browned, about 1 minute. Using tongs, carefully flip salmon and cook on skin side for 1 minute.

3. Remove skillet from heat and spoon glaze evenly over salmon fillets. Transfer skillet to oven (or transfer fillets to a rimmed baking sheet if your skillet isn't ovenproof).

4. Cook until center of thickest part of fillets are still translucent when cut into with paring knife and instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of fillets registers 125 degrees, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer fillets to individual plates or platter, and serve.

Variation:

Thai peanut glaze
This is a formula that I discovered in a book that smells like chicken. It makes a pretty amazing chicken satay, maybe I'll publish that this summer when grill time resumes. 
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- chopped fresh ginger
- juice of half a lime

No need to put this on the stove, but you may want to microwave the peanut butter to make it easier to stir in the other ingredients. Prep the salmon the exact same way, and paste this on before finishing in the oven.

Sourdough Stuffing with Leeks, Apples and Sausage

My mission this year was to try a new stuffing. My family has eaten the Stovetop stuffing since the beginning of time, and those tiny, dried out cubes of fake bread give me the willies.

It was way easier than I thought, though it does have a few steps. Cubing and toasting the bread, sauteeing aromatics, apples and sausage, then combining all of it with eggs and stock before baking. I did everything but adding the eggs and broth before the final bake the day before, while Papa Anderson stood around my kitchen with me, keeping me company. His strong points in the kitchen mostly revolve around excellent suggestions- when I wavered on adding the sausage (we have some dissenters), he encouraged me to ignore the others.

And it was so worth it. As my first homemade stuffing, this one was baller. The sausage was the hit of the dish,  though who is surprised by that?


Sourdough Stuffing with Leeks, Apples and Sausage
Makes a 9x13 pan

1 1-pound loaf sourdough bread, crusts removed, bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pound bulk pork sage sausage
1 1/2 leeks, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped celery (about 5 stalks)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
2 large apples peeled and cubed- Fuji, Granny Smith
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons thyme
1/4 c.  parsley
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 large eggs

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spread bread cubes in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer bread to very large bowl.

2. Sauté sausage in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up into small pieces with back of fork, 8 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to bowl with bread cubes.

3. Add onions and celery to drippings in skillet; sautéuntil golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to bowl with bread-sausage mixture (do not clean skillet).

4. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add sage, thyme and parsley; stir until fragrant, about a minute, then add all to bowl with bread mixture. Season with salt and black pepper.

5. Generously butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Whisk broth and eggs in medium bowl; add to stuffing and toss to mix. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered until top is golden and crisp in spots, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes and serve.

You can assemble this a day ahead- don't add the eggs and broth until you're ready to bake. Refrigerate overnight, then add in eggs/broth while the oven is preheating. Bake as directed.