Saturday, March 25, 2006

Sweet Potato Fries and Homemade Ketchup

What's a nutrition conscious mom to do when she's in a hurry and craving crispy, salty potatoes? She makes sweet potato fries! Considering the closest fast food restaurant is a 25 minutes drive away from us – these fries take us less time to prepare than getting fast food? These are ordinary sweet potatoes, sprinkled with Morton's Nature's Seasoning and baked on an old dark cookie sheet at 450 degrees for 20 minutes (no turning) in the convection oven. The coolest part I'm sharing about this typical vegan delight is the ketchup, it is preservative and corn starch free. I found this nugget on the Daily Menu of An Aspiring Vegan.
Ketchup...Preservative and corn-syrup free!
Aspiring Vegan said she got it from someone else (to give credit where credit is due), but the family will thank YOU for this one.
1 6oz. can tomato paste
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup maple or brown rice syrup
(S)**1/4 C water, ¼ tsp KAL brand stevia w/ one drop of maple extract
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Will keep for about 1 month in a tightly sealed container in the fridge. ** (substitution) if you prefer to avoid the syrup completely

8 comments:

MJ said...

mmmm I love that image, I have to try making that! thanks for commenting on my little fledgling blog. :) hope it's ok if I link you?

Bryanna Clark Grogan said...

Mmmm, sweet potato fries! Love'em! BTW, they are very popular street food in Peru, where my father was born.

Anonymous said...

Those look yummy!! Yesterday I tried to bake some sweet potato chips, for the first time. I burned them to a crisp! I had to open the windows to let out the smoke, and no one wanted to try the new chips. LOL I am going try the fries next.

Dori said...

Michelle - oh no! My son really enjoyed the sweet potato fries. I recall seeing Susan's posting this weekend, she's from the fat free vegan blog. I think she made some sort of veggie chip in the microwave.

Anonymous said...

I must be doing something wrong with potatoes in the oven. I baked the sweet potato fries at 450 in a convection oven for 20 minutes and some were too brown. They were not even crunchy. :( Will try this again.

Dori said...

Michelle, I know how disappointing that is! Mine were crispy and puffed like white potato fries, a very few were dark brown (which I don't mind).
Two things come to mind...
1. Did you have an old black cookie sheet lightly oiled? This is important!
2. The only other thing that may make a difference is that I line my oven with baking stones, one on the top rack and one on the bottom.
3. I gave the potatoes a very light spray of oil. I chopped them very uniformly in thickness and length with a large slicing knife....

Hmmmm - I looked at a cookbook that gave me the idea to do this and the oven temp there said 500 for 20 minutes and to turn after 10 minutes, but I lowered the temp and didn't turn. I think I did this because the first time I tried these they came out black and limp.

Mine were puffed and crispy, even stayed that way after sitting for 20 minutes. I did have a few darker ones, but for the most part they came out like my picture.

I hope something here can help, they are so good when they come out right.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the help, Dori. I used a stone to bake the fries on. I'll try again on an old cookie sheet. :)

As'ad said...

Many thanks for this terrific home made ketchup recipe - you've helped me beat my food sensitivities and my budget!