The Perfect Yam Fries

Okay. Deep breath. It’s taken years (I kid you not, years) of making mediocre, semi-mediocre, decent, alright, good, better, great yam fries to get to the point of perfect yam fries. Every time. This is one yam fries recipe you can depend upon, day in and day out. They’re baked, so they’re super easy to make at home and probably healthy for you too. No big deal or anything.

Why yam fries, you ask? Normal fries are good, but yam fries are great. Your obsession with them starts out small—a friend orders them, and you deign to try them because, well, you’re hungry and they’re offering. At first all you’re thinking is, “Okay, these are fries, but with a funny flavour. What gives?” Then you down a few more, and suddenly you’re thinking, “Alright, they’re decent and totally fulfilling my fries craving. And this sauce is dee-lish. What is it?” Suddenly the plate is empty, and you and your friend stare at it forlornly. One of you suggests that together you bite the bullet and just order that second plate. Ignoring the fact that you were supposed to be at the gym and ended up at the university pub instead (ahem), it dawns on you that you probably can’t live without a second plate of yam fries right now oh my god.

And you’re hooked. Probably for life. Wondering where this amazing food has been your entire existence.

Homemade yam fries will quickly become a staple at any gathering you host, from movie nights to dinner parties to midnight snackies to weekly Monday night How I Met Your Mother traditions (you know who you are). So without further ado my friends, I offer up my masterpiece: homemade yam fries. Imbibe responsibly.

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Edited: October 9th, 2010

Spicy Yam Soup

The weather is slowly struggling and fighting its way towards summer, here in Australia. Some days are glorious—sitting on the balcony with a book requires an iced tea instead of a hot coffee, and you start contemplating moving some of your seedlings outside. The next day it could be hailing, or a blustery rainy day where that chai looks a whole lot better steaming hot.

So, I’m still in the mood for hot soups, especially when leftovers can be put in the boyfriend’s hands for a filling lunch the next day. And sometimes, things in the fridge just come together into a lovely combination. This recipe is actually loosely based off of the African Yam Soup which you can find in the Rebar cookbook, but it’s based off of my mum’s version and then altered heavily again, so really the only similarity is a few tablespoons of peanut butter. I will just say though that yams are very forgiving when it comes to soups—you could really chuck in any veggies into this and it’d still taste great. Ah, yams, how I love thee.

While taking photos of this soup, I discovered that it tastes great cold too. (Sometimes photos take a while, so hot soup gets cold in the process. But can you tell in the photos? Nup. I wonder why I bother reheating leftovers for photos most of the time, actually.) So consider this a great recipe for all year round!

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Edited: August 31st, 2010

Roasted Vegetable Tortilla Stack

Tortilla stacks are a wonderful dinner, in my opinion, and are such a versatile dish once you get used to the basics. My mum often made a “Mexican” version of this, which had refried beans, onions, salsa, and sometimes ground beef in it. This particular recipe I discovered in a cookbook my friend Ramsay brought with him to Australia (check it out at the bottom of the post, you know a cookbook is good when it gets schlepped to the other side of the world!), and is a bit of a twist on the recipe my mum used often.

I would say that this is a cheap, healthy dish that works great for leftovers, except that every time we serve this up it never seems to make it to the leftover stage! Everyone just gobbles it right up. Oh well, I guess I can’t really complain, can I? It takes a bit of love and care to make, but is well worth the effort.

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Edited: June 16th, 2010

Chicken Satay in a Slow Cooker

Hello Three Cheeses =) I am Jeremy, Joni’s roommate over here in Australia who has been lucky enough to try nearly everything that she has made and posted on here. After living with the mouth watering recipes that have been put on here  and put in front of me at the table for the last six months, I’ve had a craving to have a go myself. With the very sudden onset of winter this last week (in Australia, at least), I’ve been reminded about how much I love winter food – warm stews, casseroles and lots of things baked in the oven! So in preparation for this winter a few months ago I cashed in all of the reward points I’ve been saving up from my credit card and ordered a slow cooker, which arrived a few weeks ago. I’ve kept my eye out for a great recipe with which to begin my career in slow cooking.

Just last week my mum passed along a book to me she bought, Slow Cooker: Easy and delicious recipes for all seasons by Sally Wise, which I had a flick through and found a nice looking recipe for a Satay Chicken which I decided to adapt and try. This recipe is definitely a keeper, offering up a stomach-warming treat in winter and some tasty leftovers for lunch! And it doesn’t have to be made in a slow cooker, either — I’ve thrown in some tips for how to do it in an oven, too.

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Edited: May 25th, 2010