A trip to the Grand Central Market with my favorite foodie, Noa, included a trip to her favorite place for sausages: Koglin Royal Hams. I bought the Frankonian Veal Bratwurst at her recommendation and Mike and I decided to pair it with a sweet potato caserole and asparagus in a a balsamic sauce. These sweet potatoes were incredible, but they tasted WAY too good to be anything close to healthy. I probably would have added nutmeg or more cinnamon to the potatoes themselves but the topping tasted like a moist pecan pie. We made a few mistakes on the recipes, however, everything still remained delicious.
Mistake #1: Baking the potatoes takes too long. We wound up microwaving them to get them soft enough to mash. In the past I’ve boiled them and they tasted just as good.
Mistake #2: Peel potatoes before cooking! We followed the recipe exactly and the peeling was one of the most laughably difficult things we’ve done
Mistake #3: Bratwurst needs to be boiled very specifically… you have to bring the water to a boil then TURN IT OFF and put the sausages in, then let them cook for ~8-12 minutes. I made the mistake of keeping the heat on and they exploded. Still full of flavor, they surely did NOT look pretty.
For dessert I was craving berries and schlag (aka whipped cream). I used the leftover heavy cream to whip up some schlag and added some Bristol Cream Sherry to give it an adult kick.
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Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic
(recipe was found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gourmet-Sweet-Potato-Classic/Detail.aspx)
Ingredients
- 5 sweet potatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes on a pan in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash. (Refer to note above: I recommend peeling then boiling)
- In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
- Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.
Happy Nomming!
