Sweet potato mash is a wonderful alternative to mashed potato. It's so easy to make, requires just a fork to mash the sweet potatoes and is low GI, high in vitamins and naturally sweet. This is a wonderful mash to go with steak or lamb or any protein really or for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! I served this with lamb shanks and it was absolutely delicious!
Sweet potato is a fantastic alternative to regular potatoes because they are very high in Vitamins A and C, fibre and are low GI and are said to lower LDL or bad cholesterol. I remember Nina used to always eat sweet potato but never eat potato because of the nutritional benefits of it. Also sweet potatoes cook very easily in less than 20 minutes and you don't need a potato ricer to mash it, just a fork.
How To Make Your Sweet Potato Mash POP!
1 - I know it sounds crazy but adding a bit of brown sugar to your sweet potato mash really adds so much. I promise it won't taste like a sweet potato marshmallow casserole but it just adds balance and flavour to sweet potato mash.
2 - I usually use fresh garlic but use garlic powder when I need to evenly distribute garlic among a large mix.
3 - Fresh ginger tastes much better than dried ginger or ginger powder in this mash.
4 - Make sure to season it well with salt too to balance the sweetness.
A few years ago I ate a sweet potato and ginger mash at a New Zealand restaurant and it was so delicious, especially when paired with meat. So I thought back to then and served this at a joint birthday lunch for Mr NQN and his brother Manu last weekend along with some red wine lamb shanks. I promised to share this recipe because it's really the perfect pairing. I scooped some of this mash onto a plate and then topped it with some lamb shanks and sauce and it was chef kiss delicious.
We were eating outside when Mr NQN's sister noticed that there were some peanuts on a ledge. She asked what they were for. "I'm trying to befriend a crow", I explained. Crows, ravens and magpies are very smart and I have heard so many stories about crows looking after humans who feed them. I find the relationship between humans and crows fascinating but short of putting an ad in the Crow Ledger classifieds (Crowslist?) I don't know how to befriend one. I heard somewhere that they like raw, unsalted peanuts.
When I first put them out they sat there for a couple of days and I was disappointed but then one day they were all gone. I tried it again and after a couple of days this second batch was gone. When I took out the laundry one day I heard a loud sqwuak as I was heading in. We have lots of trees in our yard and I'm short sighted so I couldn't see what bird it was but I wondered if it was my crow friend asking for nuts. Excitedly I rushed in and left some peanuts for them. But the nuts sat on the ledge for a couple of days. I told Mr NQN and he shook his head. "I think you're feeding a possum or a rat," he said.
"Can you set up a camera?" I asked him. He was as curious as I was so he set it up. The camera notifies him when there is movement in front of the camera and late one night it pinged. Mr NQN watched intently as a snail came up to the camera and waved it's antennas in the corner of the screen but it went away shortly after. That was a bit of a false start.
Two nights later Mr NQN sat up in bed. "Your mate is here," he said. And in the corner of the screen was a tiny little face sniffing at the peanuts. It was hesitant at first checking to see if it was a trap but then its face filled the screen. It was a little mouse that somehow devoured a small handful of peanuts all by itself. So I've got to try another tack to befriend a crow, any tips or hints are greatly appreciated. I am no longer supposed to feed the mouse (and I get it, we don't want lots of mice coming). But it was so cute and tiny!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have any tips on how to befriend crows? Have you ever tried to befriend an animal? And have you ever tried sweet potato mash?
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