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

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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.

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

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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!)

Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate & Delicata Squash

Update: I added new photos of this recipe on 11/13/2017. The recipe is the same and still delicious! Original photo is at the bottom. 

Pomegranate seeds are the sweet taste of winter on it's way. They're a little burst of tart juice, a spot of brightness in the otherwise dreary winter season. Pomegranates were the hallmark of the winter season at my dad house -- the minute I came home to pomegranates, I knew that the holidays weren't far off. We always just ate them plain, straight out of the rind, while sitting on the porch (the deep red juice was too dangerous to mess with inside). This was before you could buy pomegranates pre-deseeded, and it was sweeter that way: every little gem had to be worked for. 

I still buy my pomegranates whole, and I still think they taste better when you do the deseeding for yourself. Most of the time, I still eat them plain, too. When I do add them to dishes, they're simple, like this salad. 

I have been sooooo ready for salads this week-- hearty, nourishing, big bowl salads. Maybe it to counteract the pie? All I know is that I can't get enough brightly colored produce in my life right now.  And let me tell you, the pomegranate seeds make this salad taste like a big holiday treat to me! (Not to mention the delicata squash, which is also pretty high on my end-of-fall list of favorites). 

And the contrast between the creamy goat cheese and those tart pomegranate seeds? Now that's where it's at.  

Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate & Delicata Squash

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

This salad gets a burst of freshness from the pomegranate, creaminess from the squash, and bitter bite from the greens.

Serves: 5   |    Total Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 delicata squash
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil, for roasting squash
• Salt & pepper
• 1 bunch red kale
• Juice from 1/2 orange
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, for dressing
• 1/2 cup pomegranate perils
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1/3 cup goat cheese crumbles (optional, use hazelnuts instead)
• A few cracks of black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 450°F. Slice the delicata squash in half, and remove the seeds. Cut into 1/2-inch thick crescents, and toss in avocado oil. Spread out on baking pan, and season with salt & pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until squash is cooked through and golden. Once cooked, set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, massage the kale: remove the stems from the kale, and set aside. Place the leafy bits in a salad bowl, and squeeze orange juice over the leaves. Sprinkle with salt. Using your hands, massage the kale until it begins to soften. Drizzle with olive oil.
3. Top with red onion, pomegranate perils, cooked delicata squash, and goat cheese crumbles. Season with freshly cracked pepper. Serve.