Indian tea (chai latte)

© Lisa Stefan | Books & Latte

Please find the Indian tea / chai latte recipe on my blog Books & Latte (follow the link).

mashed sweet potatoes with pecan nuts

Happy New Year! I meant to share this recipe on the blog before the holidays but didn’t find the time to prepare and photograph it especially. I couldn't let another year pass without posting it, so before sitting down to enjoy a turkey meal on New Year's I used the opportunity to snap a photo. We first tasted this delicious side dish at Thanksgiving in Canada in 2009, which we got to celebrate that year for the first time with dear friends in the Icelandic Consulate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I will never forget that night, what a feast we had! (I brought one side dish, Brussels sprouts, and I had made pecan pies for dessert). Since that night this has been served with our turkey every time because we absolutely love it. The recipe is called Sweet Potatoes Supreme but I don't know anything about its origin. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. I use 1200 grams and I have no idea if I'm using more or less, as I have never measured it in cups. I make the mashed sweet potatoes according to the original recipe but I have made considerable changes to the topping, which contained a lot of sugar and butter that needed to be melted. I see no reason to overwhelm the naturally sweet flavour of sweet potatoes with too much sugar; I simply don't get it when they are drowned in sugar or marshmallows or whatever. As I never cook with butter, I threw that out as well. Besides, there is plenty of fat in the pecan nuts.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH PECAN NUTS

INGREDIENTS

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

• 1200 g sweet potatoes (approx. 2.7 lb)
• 2 tablespoons milk/soy milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon paprika

TOPPING

• 2 tablespoons agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• 1½-2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 130-150 g pecan nuts

METHOD

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

1. Peel the sweet potatoes. Quarter each of them by first cutting it in half and then the two parts in half lengthwise
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil (you need just enough water to cover them). Add the sweet potatoes and cook until tender (takes about 20 minutes if each is quartered)
3. Drain off the water and use a potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes in the saucepan. Add the milk, salt and paprika and combine
4. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes to an oven/serving dish (mine is rounded; diameter 23 cm/9 inches) and use a spatula to even it out

TOPPING

1. In a small bowl, lightly mix the agave/maple syrup and the coconut oil with a spoon and spread it over the mashed sweet potatoes (if the coconut oil is solid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use)
2. Cover with pecan nuts
3. Warm in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (I set my oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6) and make sure that you don't burn the pecan nuts

chocolate chip cookies with almonds and oats

I have to admit that it was my plan to post more recipes on the blog before the holidays but somehow other things got in the way. Let me make it up with cookies. I was baking with my kids on Thursday when I decided to do a little experiment and this recipe is the result. I baked the cookies again yesterday just to make sure that our taste buds hadn't been fooling us and they were just as good. My kids don't like dark chocolate so I use organic semi sweet chocolate in mine. You can also use organic milk chocolate if you want. And if you want to use more chocolate then that is fine too, just make sure you don't overdo it because the cookies are sugary enough.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH ALMONDS AND OATS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large egg
• 70 g raw cane sugar, organic
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons organic peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 30 g spelt flour
• ½ teaspoon gluten free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 50 g rolled oats
• 70 g almonds, chopped
• 70 g organic chocolate, semi sweet or dark, chopped

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, combine the egg, sugar, agave nectar, peanut butter and coconut oil (if the oil is solid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use)
2. In a small bowl, combine the spelt flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder and add it to the wet ingredients
3. Add the rolled oats and chopped almonds and mix gently (I chop the almonds in a food processor)
4. Chop the chocolate, add it into the bowl and mix gently
5. Place baking parchment on a large baking tray
6. Drop a tablespoon of batter onto the baking parchment and make sure to leave some space between each cookie. I get about 24 cookies from the batter and bake 12 at a time
7. Bake at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 12 minutes
8. The cookies are soft when they come out of the oven so allow them to cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool further or serving