CREATIVE LEFTOVERS!! Maple Pecan Sweet Potato Pancakes and Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Every year for Thanksgiving I make Sweet Potato casserole sweetened with  maple syrup and a pecan brown sugar topping.  Given the chance, I also make homemade cranberry sauce with orange juice and zest.  This year was no different and after most of the leftovers had been eaten for lunch the next day, there were still a few scoops left.  While I was laying in bed this morning, I was thinking about how I wanted pancakes for breakfast and the idea for this recipe popped into my head.

Leftover Maple-Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole Pancakes

makes 3 large pancakes 

Ingredients

1 cup Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

           (or any ol' smashed sweet taters)

1 cup flour

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbsp maple syrup

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately and then mix together.  Poor 1/4-1/2 cup batter into pan.  When bubbles start appearing in the center of the pancake and the edges look cook, it's ready to flip....be patient or you'll make a mess!

Heat up (or not) leftover cranberry sauce and plop on top of your stack of flapjacks.  Top with extra syrup if you like.

  

Homemade cranberry sauce is easy and quick to make...

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

This year, I added a shot of rum and a few chopped-up cubes of crystallized ginger I had lying around the kitchen.

Bring OJ and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add the cranberries (and ginger and rum) to the pan. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on the stove for about 10 minutes-20 minutes. Cranberries will pop!  It's super-cool.  Stir in the orange zest and take off of the heat.  I enjoy it warm, but many like it cold.   

Sweet Potato Samosa Pot Pie

I have been dreaming about making this dish ever since the thought of it popped into my brain.  Originally the idea was just for a Samosa Pot Pie: all of the ingredients of a Samosa in a Pot Pie form; which I've learned from Google is not an original idea.  The recipe changed at the last minute after I harvested a bunch of sweet potatoes from my garden and thought "What if instead of

regular white potatoes...."  I must say that the experiment was a success in flavor and form (although the crust definitely looks stoner-constructed).

If you're not a fan of sweet potatoes, this may be the recipe to change you over.  The curry flavor transforms the sweet potatoes into a very different taste bud experience.  If you're still not convinced, you can substitute the recipe with regular white potatoes.  

Having never made traditional somosas before in my life (see Cheeseburger Samosas), I found this Samosa Recipe website very helpful in my endeavor.

Ingredients

1 pie crust

1 sheet puff pastry

5  sweet potatoes, medium-large

2 cup vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups sweet peas, frozen or fresh

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp ghee or butter

1 cup cashews, roasted

2 tbsp Madras Curry Powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

First, pierce sweet potatoes with a fork and place in an oven @ 375 F for approx 45 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.  Remove sweet potatoes from oven (but leave the oven on...you'll need it later!)  Let the potatoes cool ~10 minutes and then mash them in a medium bowl.  Place vegetable broth in a sauce pan and heat to medium heat.  Melt ghee or butter in a large skillet or pot.  Sauté onions and garlic in melted ghee/butter for 5 minutes.  Add mashed sweet potatoes and 1 cup of vegetable broth to the onions and garlic.  Stir.  Add curry powder and cayenne pepper to mixture and continue to stir.  When all of the liquid is absorbed, add the rest of the broth and the sweet peas, raisins and cashews.  Continue to stir until broth has been absorbed.  Taste and add salt if you need to.  For me the saltiness of the vegetable broth I used was plenty, but everyone's different.

Ok.  Now you can place the mixture in your pie crust.  If you wanna, you can make your own, but I used a frozen pre-made crust to simplify the procedure.  Load it up high.  The mixture should rise above the sides of the crust.   Next, roll out your puff pastry and cut into a circle and plop on top of the pie.  Pinch it to the edge if you can or just let it ride on top if you want.  Place in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until crust turns a golden brown and you can't stand the enticing aroma any longer.  Let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.  Leftover pie tastes awesome too and there should be plenty unless you're feeding an army.