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| Candy potato flans, savory (prime) and candy. |
My expensive good friend, Charlotte (gone from us virtually a 12 months now), had a particular dish for holidays—candy potato soufflé. Though it was served as a aspect with the primary course (normally stuffed turkey), it had sugar and candy spices. I by no means preferred her candy potato soufflé—it was an excessive amount of like dessert!
So, why not flip it into dessert? And make a savory model with herbs, cheese, and a few scorching spices to go along with the primary course? Right here’s the inside track.
Char known as the dish “soufflé,” however, though the candy potatoes puff up throughout baking, they rapidly deflate when resting. Each the candy and savory variations are extra like a flan, or a timbale, generally known as a pudding. With that in thoughts, I made a decision to bake off a few of them in flan cups. For straightforward unmolding, silicone muffin cups are finest. In any other case, generously oil the cups and mud them with flour. The flan can be baked in an oven casserole.
Oh, by the way, I’m not serving the savory and the candy flans on the identical meal! That may be a little bit extreme. The savory model makes a superb aspect with roast pork or ham, turkey, salmon.
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| Savory candy potato flans have cheese and a pinch of scorching pimentón. A contact of vinegar balances the pure sweetness of the potatoes. A topping of crisp bacon contrasts with the graceful flan. |
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| Identical fundamental components, however with candy spices and cream cheese as an alternative of aged Manchego. Prime the flans with crunchy walnuts and a drizzle of caramel sauce. |
Mashed Candy Potatoes
Puré de Batatas
Candy potatoes in Spanish are batatas or boniatos.
You will want cooked, mashed candy potatoes for the flan. They are often roasted or boiled. I used to be making a double batch—one candy, one savory—utilizing two kilos of candy potatoes. I selected to peel them, minimize them up and boil them. One pound of candy potatoes makes roughly 1 ½ cups mashed.
1 pound candy potatoes (to make 1 ½ cups mashed)
Salt
Lemon zest
Peel the candy potatoes, minimize them in chunks and canopy with water. Add salt and lemon zest. Carry to a boil and cook dinner till they’re fork tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain completely. Mash the candy potatoes with a fork or potato masher.
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| Mashed candy potatoes with components for the flans–savory on the left and candy on the proper. |
Savory Candy Potato Flan with Cheese
Flan de Batatas con Queso
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| The flan will be baked in particular person molds and unmolded to serve, pictured, or in a casserole to be served direct to the desk. |
I used a cured Manchego (sheeps’ milk) cheese for this flan. Any agency, melting cheese could possibly be substituted.
The graceful flan wants one thing crispy or crunchy to go along with it. Chopped pistachios, crisp bacon bits, frizzled onions—take your decide.
Serves 8-10.
1 ½ cups cooked and mashed candy potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dry Sherry
¼ teaspoon pimentón picante de la Vera (smoked scorching paprika) or cayenne
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup entire milk
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly floor black pepper
Pinch of thyme
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
½ cup grated Manchego
3 eggs, separated
2 drops of lemon juice
Fried bacon bits to garnish (non-obligatory)
Chopped pistachios to garnish (non-obligatory)
Greek yogurt, to serve (non-obligatory)
Warmth the oil in a skillet on medium and sauté the shallot and garlic till softened, 4 minutes. Add the Sherry and cook dinner off the alcohol. Add the pimentón and the flour and stir to combine with the oil. Add the milk and whisk the sauce till it thickens. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Oil 8 to 10 muffin cups or an oven-safe casserole.
Add the candy potatoes to the skillet and blend nicely with the sauce. Stir within the vinegar and the grated cheese. Take away the pan from the warmth.
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| Beat egg whites stiff. |
Stir the yolks collectively. Spoon among the candy potatoes into the yolks and blend. Add the yolks-potatoes to the pan and mix completely.
Beat the egg whites till virtually stiff. Beat in a pinch of salt and a pair of drops of lemon juice. Beat till whites maintain stiff peaks. Stir 1 / 4 of the whites into the candy potato combination. Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the candy potatoes. Spoon the combination into 10 muffin cups or a casserole. Bake till the tops are golden and the flan has overvalued, 15 to twenty minutes for the muffin cups, 25 to half-hour for the casserole.
Unmold the cups onto an oiled serving platter. The casserole can go straight to the desk. Serve the flans scorching, heat or room temperature. Garnish, as desired with bacon bits, pistachios, yogurt, and so on.
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| Flans puff up in baking, deflate as they cool. |
Candy Potato Flan
Flan de Batatas
You may caramelize the flan molds, if desired. I selected to not trouble, however served the flans with a (store-bought) caramel sauce to drizzle over the tops as soon as the flans have been unmolded. One other chance could be to make use of molasses as an alternative of caramel—very paying homage to a standard Málaga dish of baked candy potatoes with miel de caña, molasses.
1 pound candy potatoes, cooked and mashed (1 ½ cups)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon floor ginger
1/8 teaspoon floor cardamom
Grating of contemporary nutmeg
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon PX (candy) wine
½ cup entire milk
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon + 2 drops lemon juice
3 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
Walnuts, to garnish
Molasses or caramel sauce, to serve (non-obligatory)
Whipped cream, non-obligatory
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| Combine candy potatoes and cheese. |
Mash the cooked candy potatoes with the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and lemon zest.
Warmth the oil in a saucepan and stir within the flour. Prepare dinner the flour 1 minute. Add the wine and cook dinner 1 minute, stirring. Whisk within the milk and cook dinner till the sauce thickens. Add the brown sugar and stir nicely. Stir within the candy potatoes. Take away the pan from the warmth and stir within the cream cheese and lemon juice.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Oil 8 to 10 muffin cups or an oven-safe casserole.
Stir the egg yolks collectively in a bowl. Add an enormous spoonful of the candy potatoes and blend nicely. Stir the yolk-sweet potato combination into the pan and mix nicely.
Beat the egg whites till virtually stiff. Add salt and a pair of drops of lemon juice and beat till the whites maintain stiff peaks. Stir 1 / 4 of the whites into the candy potatoes to lighten them. Fold the remaining whites into the candy potatoes.
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| Add caramel sauce, walnuts. |
Spoon the flan combination into the muffin cups or casserole. Bake till tops are golden and puffed, 15-20 minutes for the person cups; half-hour for the casserole.
Unmold cups onto a serving platter. Use an offset spatula to switch them to dessert plates. Garnish, as desired, with walnuts, a dribble of molasses or caramel, whipped cream. Serve heat or chilled.
Extra recipes with candy potatoes:
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A illustration of a market in Bethlehem, from the Belén, or nativity scene, on the parochial church in my pueblo. Depicted are crates of candy potatoes and potatoes, which actually didn’t exist in that a part of the world in Jesus’s time! The figures within the dioramas are about half life-size.
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Joyful Christmas! Feliz Navidad!
