Sunday, September 26, 2010

Sweet Potato and Peach Chantilly

Sorry, I have been way behind in posting this.  A couple weeks ago we decided to take on a dessert recipe with a bit of an odd combination: sweet potatoes and peaches.  Too intriguing to pass up, and we figured that we should do this while peaches are at least OK in the Wisconsin markets.
It was a pretty simple thing to make, although it was difficult to tell how 'soupy' it should or shouldn't be.  A lot of Thanksgiving flavors locked into the dessert between the sweet potatoes (or yams, which I used) and the nutmeg.  But we quickly learned that whipped cream on a hot dessert dissolves pretty quickly, so we substituted some store bought 'pralines and cream' ice cream, which was awesome.
Overall my Mom and I both felt that it was good, interesting, and a bit earthy, but it won't be something that we will be rushing to make again.



An unusual and delicious combination, a favorite local vegetable with fresh ripe peaches.  Serve this hot, with plenty of homemade whipped cream put on at the last minute.

6 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams (about 3 cups), baked and diced
Salad Oil
2 lbs fresh ripe peaches (about 3 cups) pitted and diced
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 white pepper
1/4 cup brandy
5 TBs salted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
Whipped cream for topping

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes rub them lightly with salad oil and bake in a 450 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Allow them to cool, then peel and dice into 1-inch cubes.  Wash the peaches, remove the pits, peel off the skin, and dice as for the potatoes.  Butter a 3 quart baking dish and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
In a saucepan combine the potatoes, peaches, water, syrup, salt, pepper and brandy.  Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid in the pan begins to turn quite thick.  Remove the potato and peach segments with a slotted spoon and put some of them in a layer in the prepared backing dish.  Pour some of the syrup from the pan over the layer.  Cut the butter into small pieces and use about six pieces to dot the layer, then sprinkle with some cinnamon and nutmeg.  Repeat the layers until all of the peach and potato mixture is used up. Cover the top with the remaining butter and a bit more syrup.  Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top turns brown and the liquid in the baking dish is well candied.  Serve hot with about 1/2 cup of whip cream for each portion.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Door County Barbecue Shrimp

A little late posting these pictures.  The barbecue shrimp was a hit in Wisconsin, but my mom could only find the frozen variety of shrimp, so she suspected that ours was better.  Really, since we're not shrimp experts, I'm sure they would be pretty equal to my palate.  And hers was less fussy, with no heads, tentacles or little legs to deal with.  Talk about taking out all the fun (my wife shakes her head).