Individual Parmesan Sweet Potato Gratins

Some years we would skip Thanksgiving in our sort of way by heading to a cabin. We would bring groceries from the next town over and stock the fridge. My mom and I would cook a Thanksgiving meal fit for 5, even though we were only 3. It would be snowing outside, and icy winds would billow through the valley, but inside it was all biscuits, turkey, and gravy, oh my! We clipped recipes from magazines and made do with what ingredients we could find in the small mountain grocer.

Between the biscuits, one November we made potato stacks. Like scalloped potatoes, thin slices were baked in a creamy sauce and served hot.

Individual Parmesan Sweet Potato Gratins

Published October 28, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yields: 12   |    Active Time: 45 minutes

---

Ingredients:

2-3 small sweet potatoes (Look for ones that are thinner in diameter so they fit into a muffin pan when sliced.)

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano cheese

Optional: fresh thyme or rosemary leaves for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Using a pastry brush, grease the muffin tin with about half of the butter (1 tablespoon). Reserve the rest for later.
3. Wash the sweet potatoes, and peel them. Using a mandolin or the slicing attachment of your food processor, slice the sweet potatoes into thin rounds. Stack the slices in muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, combine heavy cream, remaining 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and whisk just until combined. Pour the cream mixture over each potato stack, dividing (roughly) evenly. Sprinkle about half of the cheese over the potatoes, reserving the other half for later.
5. Place pan in oven and bake until cooked through, 30-35 minutes for a standard muffin pan (longer for a larger muffin pan).
6. Once potatoes are cooked through and edges are crisping, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Top with remaining cheese so that it melts. Optional: garnish with fresh thyme or rosemary.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Autumn Vegetables

Update: This recipe was updated with new images and a few recipe tweaks on 11/9/2018 to make it better than ever! I’ve been slowly updating images on old recipes because I’ve learned so much about photography in recent years!

Phew. 

After searching for over a year, we finally moved to a new home! My emotions are a mix of excited for the months ahead and--if I am being honest- exhausted. It's true the move was tiring: packing up and hauling everything to a new place is always an ordeal, but we had great help from friends (thanks!!) which made it feel more like an adventure. The truth is, it was looking for a home that was the ultimate exercise in patience, convincing myself that even after a year of visiting at least a hundred properties, something would come up. Not only would something come up, but somehow, someway, we'd be lucky enough to move there. (No one tells you quite how exhausting it will be). 

Now that it is done it is almost unreal, as if none of it ever happened and we've been here all along. We made a lot of compromises over the last year, decided what we really want. Coming to peace with hard decisions is never easy, but I'm not one to dwell. Personally I've always thought that worrying about the un-changeable is a painful waste of energy. Instead, I prefer to see my mark and make the most of it, determining my next play. 

What helps is cooking up a storm, and filling the air with home scents like pumpkin pie and autumn stew. 

This autumn stew is like a traditional beef stew — simmered slowly with broth and wine, bay leaves and thyme - but also calls for winter squash (I used butternut, but kabocha or red kuri would work, too!) which gives it a fall touch. Especially in late fall, when the weather is brisk (the high today was 41°F!).

I find that more beef stews go well with Pinot Nior and this one is no exception! Plus, made in your slow cooker, it’s easy-going.

I do all my chopping in the morning before heading to work, and put everything in the removed stainless steel pot of an Instant Pot. Then, when I get home I take the pot out of the fridge and put the pot back in the Instant Pot, place the lid on, and set the timer for 4 hours. We head to gym, run errands, all that jazz, and get home to a flavorful meal. (P.S., you can cut the cooking time a bit short (30-45 minutes) if you get home before the 4 hours is up. Just check to make sure the beef is cooked through! The last hour does let the flavors mingle and does really soften up the beef, but some evenings you just run out of time. Obviously if you’re able to start the pot at 1 or 2, it’s a mute point because it’ll be done cooking before the sun goes down.)

Serving with warm mash potatoes or a piece of crusty bread is spot on.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Autumn Vegetables

Published October 17, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 4 hours

---

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef chuck, cubed (ask your butcher to dice it for you if it is not already diced)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 yellow onion, minced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 cup wine

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup beef or chicken broth

3 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 small winter squash, peeled and seeded (butternut, kabocha, kuri, etc)

1 tablespoon Italian herbs (or, a mix of dried thyme, rosemary, oregano)

2 bay leaves

1 pinch fennel seeds

Several dashes salt & pepper

Optional, to serve: minced parsley

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of your Instant Pot or slow cooker on the Sauté setting. When the oil is hot, add diced onion, minced garlic, and celery and sauté until onion is translucent.
2. Add cubed beef to the pot, allowing it to brown on the edges. Stir every 2-3 minutes to brown each side.
3. Pour in the wine, diced tomatoes, and broth, and add the chopped carrots and squash. Add herbs, spices, salt and pepper and stir.
4. Place lid on Instant Pot and set to “Slow Cooker” setting. Adjust to “high” and set timer for 4 hours with the vent in the sealed position.
5. When timer goes off, open pot and laddle into bowls. Top with minced parsley and serve hot.

Pumpkin Pie Bars with Grain-Free Gingerbread Crust

I was so happy to have my friend Cassie in the kitchen to help whip, stir, and bake! She shot these beautiful pictures too.

There may be nothing more comforting than baking a pumpkin pie on a cool fall day while wearing your slippers while giggling with a close friend. In the wake of change--changing seasons, growing older, moving to a new home (more to come on this on Thursday!!)- a day of pie baking was just what the doctor ordered. With extra whipped cream of course.

More than anything, it is the act of making pumpkin pie, and the smell of baking pumpkin pie, that makes it therapeutic. Aromatherapy, if you will.

What's great about what pie aromatherapy is that it will pretty much be whatever you want it to be. Need a hug? Breath in that cinnamon. Looking for a hug? Focus in on rolling out that pie crust, on the act of making the pie. Just want something sweet? Quiet time? A few laughs?

You get the picture. 

Pumpkin Pie Bars with Grain-Free Gingerbread Crust

Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

These pumpkin pie bars are made with a gingerbread-spiced almond flour crust and topped with creamy pumpkin filling.

Serves: 9   |    Total Time: 80 minutes

---

Ingredients:

For the Gingerbread Crust
• 1-1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1-1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon each cloves and nutmeg
For the pumpkin filling:
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk (coconut milk for dairy-free)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9x9 baking dish. In a medium sized mixing bowl, consume the dry ingredients for the crust (almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg). Whisk until evenly distributed. Then, stir in the melted coconut oil, honey, and vanilla until a sticky dough forms. Press dough in an even layer in bottom of the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 9 minutes, until crust is slightly puffed and golden. Set aside to cool completely.
2. Now, set the oven to 425°F. Make the pumpkin pie filling: whisk together the pumpkin, evaporated milk, honey, and egg. Once combined, whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Pour mixture into cooled crust. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 40-50 more minutes, until a knife, when inserted into the center of the pumpkin mixture, comes out clean.
3. Set baking dish aside to cool for 15 minutes. Slice and serve (whipped cream or coconut cream optional!)