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December 28, 2009

Foodie Fun: Sweet Potato Pie & BBQ Meatballs

Time for a couple more recipes that I used over the holidays.

The meatballs recipe is just the carnivore version of the Vegetarian Meatballs recipe I've previously posted.

I wish I could claim credit for the Sweet Potato Pie recipe because it got rave reviews at the two holiday dinners I brought a pie to, but I can't. It's derived solely from a reviewer's comment/twist on a sweet potato pie recipe posted at allrecipe.com. I modified it slightly but only marginally.

Both recipes below the fold:

First the BBQ Meatballs. A small group of friends put on a potluck on the last Friday of every month and since this closely followed both Thanksgiving and Christmas we all agree to avoid bring leftovers or dishes strongly associated with both holidays. Which is how I came to make a huge batch of BBQ Meatballs on Christmas day.

Meatballs:
3 lbs hamburger
3 eggs
1/2 tsp BBQ seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 medium/large sweet onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp Sriracha chili sauce
about 2 cups bread crumbs

Sauce:
1/2 Sweet Baby Rays Original BBQ sauce
1/2 Ketchup

Directions:
Cut the onion up into chunks and finely mince in a food processor along with the garlic, seasonings and the Sriracha chili sauce.

Combine everything but the bread crumbs - I used my bench mixer with the dough hook. Then add bread crumbs until the mixture is approximately the texture of meatloaf mix. You want it thick enough to hold it's shape while baking but soft enough to not be so crumbly that it falls apart. What I do is add most of the bread crumbs and then do a test meatball to see how well it holds it's shape and then adjust as necessary. Use breadcrumbs to stiffen up the mixture and milk to soften it up.

Roll into small meatballs, place in an oven-safe pan with the meatballs spaced far enough apart to not be touching each other and bake them at 350F at least 15 minutes. I usually like to bake them a bit longer - 20 to 30 minutes just to make sure they'll stand up to being transferred to another pan without breaking or cracking. But if you plan on pouring the sauce over them (ie. not move them) then 15 minutes should be fine.

For the sauce just mix the BBQ sauce half and half with ketchup. Make as much or as little as you want, just so long as the ratio of BBQ sauce to ketchup remains the same.

Either transfer the meatballs to another pan or leave them in the same pan. Either way, just pour the sauce mixture over them and return them to the 350f oven for 30 minutes and they are done!

And now the Sweet Potato Pie! This is a doubled recipe for making two pies and is the base recipe with the aforementioned modifications by reviewer "SL" coupled with my few slight modifications which I will put in italics.

Ingredients:
2 (1 pound) sweet potato
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups baker's white sugar (SL's twist: substitute brown sugar in 2nd cup. My twist: don't substitue if using sweetened condensed milk)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk (SL's twist: regular condensed milk)
5 eggs (original calls for 4 eggs)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I sometimes omit this)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I sometimes omit this)
1 tablespoon all purpose flour (SL uses 2, to thicken the filling, but sweetened condensed milk is thicker than regular condensed milk so I used less)
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:
Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake at 350F degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

I've made these twice now. The first time I followed SL's modifications precisely and the result got rave reviews. This past week I modified it slightly and also forgot to add both the ginger and the lemon juice, and these too got rave reviews. I'm inclined to suggest using the ginger and the lemon juice because I would have if I'd been paying attention and because the ginger in particular (along with the clove) is responsible for most of the distinctive difference between how these taste and how a more traditional pumpkin pie tastes.

Posted by Kevin at December 28, 2009 01:25 PM