The Unexpected Harvest

It’s good ol’ recipe swap time.  For those of you who are new, the basic premise is that Christianna from Burwell General Store picks a recipe from her vintage cookbook/hymnal she found at a recipe swap and everyone involved has to change at least 3 ingredients/quantities in the recipe to make it their own.  They we all post on the same day and see what kind of magic was made in our kitchens.  More on that on her website.  Be sure to check out all the other food bloggers involved!   They are truly inspiring and some have even become good friends (virtual friends, but friends indeed!)

Ready for this months recipe reveal?  If you haven’t already figured it out from the title of this post, here you have it:

That’s right, potato donuts.  Who doesn’t love a donut?  I love donuts because that’s what kept me and brother going to church when we were younger–the promise of a maple bar during Sunday school.  It worked hook, line, and sinker on me.

I have to admit; the thought of making a donut has frightened me a bit in the past.  Deep frying hasn’t ever been my bag, but then again, I’ve never really tried it.  My old roommate Tiffani, whose father is Middle Eastern, bought a deep fryer just to maker her dad’s falafel recipe.  I don’t have a deep fryer, but I do have a pretty red dutch oven that I bought a couple months ago.  (I tell you, you can do just about anything with a dutch oven!  Best kitchen investment I’ve made yet.)  To add to my deterred state, the wheat and sugar content of a donut made me a bit uneasy.  Being a diabetic and a gluten loser and eating doesn’t bode well for my blood sugar or body, so creativity is a must on this one.

I decided to run with the deep fried potato theme.  Of course my mind went straight to sweet potatoes since they’re probably the best vegetable to come out of the ground.  I wanted to be a little more out of the box than a basic donut so I thought, “hmmmm….what else is deep fried and delicious?”  CHURROS!  Remember as a kid, going to Disneyland and getting those 18 inch long churros from the cart on the way to Thunder Mountain Railroad?  That was the best part of Disneyland.  Better than meeting Belle and Minnie Mouse, even.

Of course I took the gluten free route, and stayed away from using plain white granulated sugar.  These puppies might be calorie dense, but at least they have a few more nutrients than your basic maple bar.

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Churros, adapted from James Beard Foundation Recipes

Yields about 2 dozen churros

Ingredients:
1 pound sweet potatoes
1/2 cup milk (either whole, oat, or hazelnut)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayanne pepper
3/4 cup oat/brown rice flour blend (50/50)
1 medium egg
3 egg yolks
Vegetable oil for frying
Approx. 1 cup cinnamon and sugar mixture for coating (I used organic evaporated cane sugar)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Poke holes in the sweet potatoes and bake in a covered baking dish until very tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel and roughly chop. Mash with a fork or run through a food mill or ricer to make smooth mixture, free of chunks.  You’ll want this to go through a pastry bag later.

Place the milk in a small pot and season with the salt, nutmeg, and cayenne. Heat the milk to a near boil, then add the flour and reduce the heat to medium. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the flour and milk form a ball. Transfer to a stand mixer   fitted with a paddle attachment (VERY IMPORTANT!  I tried putting some elbow grease in there and use the old wooden spoon method.  Let’s just say it was a good thing my neighbors were home and let me borrow their Kitchen Aid) and beat on medium speed for 10 seconds to release some of the heat. Add the egg and mix on medium speed to incorporate. Add the yolks one at a time, then continue to mix until the dough forms a stiff mass. Mix in the milled sweet potatoes, then transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip (or a Zip-loc bag with the corner snipped off.  That’s all I had, hence the unflattering shape of my churros).

In a shallow dish, make up cinnamon and sugar mixture and put near fry area.

Heat about 6 inches of oil to 350ºF in a large pot. Carefully pipe five to six 3-inch lengths of dough into the pot. Fry until golden brown, flipping churros over half way through so both sides get a nice golden brown color, about 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to cinnamon and sugar dish and give them a nice coat.  Continue piping and frying in batches until all of the dough is used, making sure the temperature of the oil returns to 350ºF before frying a new batch.

Behold the goodness of the sweet potato goodness and simple embrace the fact that you’re eating fried food.  It’s home-made so you shouldn’t feel so bad.

Epilogue:
Famous last words: what else can we deep fry?!
My friend Allison and I had a fry day and felt so incredible greasy and bloated afterwards.  We took an onion and sliced it thick, made a gf batter and made hands down the most delicious onion rings we’ve ever had.  Don’t ask for the recipe because there isn’t one.  We just threw some things in a bowl, dredged the onions, and drown them in the oil.  Don’t they look gooooooood??

All fried out and GREEEEAAAZZZZYYYY….