Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Yuuuuuuuuuum. Okay people, first off, get the normal idea of 'french fries' out of your head right now. These are not white potatoes, to begin with, and they are not fried, secondly. There is no crispy exterior and fluffy interior. Instead, what we have are tender, sweet, almost maple-y slices of sweet potato, complimented beautifully by a little salt and savory paprika. Stick form, so you can eat it with your fingers, but you won't be dunking these in ketchup. Oh no. We do one better here. Raspberry sauce. Late last summer I made these with sweet potatoes and raspberries straight from the garden. It doesn't get much better than that!

• Olive oil, for tossing
• 5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch long slices, then 1/4-wide inch strips.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder, more or less
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Line a sheet tray with parchment. In a large bowl toss sweet potatoes with just enough oil to coat. Sprinkle with your seasonings and toss again. Spread sweet potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet, being sure not to overcrowd. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, about 20 minutes, turning once. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

For the raspberry sauce, I kind of wing it. For your sakes though, I will try to be more specific and hope I'm right.

• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with enough water to look the consistency of cream.

Mash the raspberries and cook in a small saucepan until it begins to bubble. Strain through cheesecloth or a sieve to remove all the seeds. Return to saucepan and add sugar and corn starch. Bring to a simmer and let thicken slightly; this should only take a minute. Remove from heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools. This doesn't make a large amount, as I am the only member of my family who wanted to try this! Next time I think I'll add a splash of orange juice or some zest perhaps. That sounds marvelous.

Raspberry Almond Thumb-prints

These... are just awesome. I made them for our church Christmas party, and a bunch came back home with me after. This is not a good thing. I had a resolution to maintain my weight throughout the holidays. I'm worried now. These things are addicting. Try this recipe at your own risk.

Raspberry Almond Thumb Prints

1/2 C butter, softened
1/2 C sugar
1 large egg, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 C flour
2/3 C sliced blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
Raspberry jam

Beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar. Add egg yolk and vanilla, beating until blended. Stir in flour. Dough will be crumbly, but easily pressed together. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic-wrap and refrigerate 3 hours.

Let dough stand for a few minutes at room temperature. Shape into 24 balls (3/4" or so. I used the small Pampered Chef scoop.. yes, I admit, I love those things, nearly to obsession.) Lightly beat egg whites. Dip each ball into egg white then roll in almonds, pressing firmly. Place on lightly greased pans, 1" apart. Press an indentation in the center of each with your thumb, and fill with 1/4 tsp raspberry jam.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Try not to eat more than a dozen in one sitting.

Chocolate Raspberry Scones

I'm not a huge fan of raspberry flavored chocolate, but raspberries and chocolate are a totally different story. We have a bumper crop of our own raspberries stored in our freezers, and I'm forever trying to think of something different to do with them. When a sweet ingredient needs to be used up, I generally look to scones for the answer. The results this time are amazingly delicious.

Chocolate Raspberry Scones

2 C all purpose flour

1/3 C sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, cold and cut into pieces

2 ounces dark chocolate chunks* or chips (about 1/2 cup)

3/4 C fresh or frozen raspberries**

1/2 C plain yogurt

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk or sift the dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs, letting some of the butter remain in small pieces. Mix in chocolate and raspberries. Make a well in the center. In a separeat bowl, beat together yogurt, vanilla and egg. Pour into the well in the flour mixture, and using a fork, quickly but gently incorporate the yogurt into the flour. Don't over mix. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a few times till the dough comes together. Pat into a 7" round, about 1 1/2" thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Place on a pan with about an inch between each scone. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes, then drizzle with a glaze made of 1/2 C powdered sugar and 1 tbsp milk.



* I roughly chopped 2 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate. I actually like this a lot better than chocolate chips, having the varying sizes of chocolate pieces. Also, chips have a way of turning hard soon after the scones are out of the oven. The chopped chocolate didn't seem to do this.

** If you want to use frozen raspberries, like I did, don't defrost them first. Bust them up with a knife and throw them in as frozen as possible to prevent them from bleeding and dissolving into the dough.