Trying Something Different
>> Saturday, 13 October 2007
You know how sometimes we get tired of eating a particular dish? or having it a particular way? Well, in this week's column, I offer 3 variations of two pies and a salad. The original versions of these dishes have already been tried, tested and proven to be successful. So why mess with them? Uh, because I can, because I want to and more importantly because I know you'll appreciate my tampering (lol) Click here to read the column.
Tamper # 1
Truth be told, the credit for this tampering goes to my sister-in-law as it was at her house that I first had it. I jazzed it up a little bit and am now making it public. Instead of using regular potatoes, use sweet-potatoes for a twist to this long-time favourite.
Tamper # 2
Macaroni and cheese make a great pie but how about trying macaroni, pumpkin & cheese pie? It's a great way to sneak veggies into your diet without loosing the taste of the original dish. And it's something different to bring to the table.
Tamper # 3
This is sweet potato pie, it's very different from the traditional North American sweet potato pie that's made and served around Thanksgiving as a dessert. This is a savory sweet potato pie with hints of sweetness. In parts of the Caribbean, it is served in many homes for Sunday lunch and on special occasions.
When I thought about this week's column and dishes, I had in mind that the holidays are fast approaching and we're always looking for ideas... I hope that three dishes offer some variation and inspiration. I know I plan to have them on my table.
Please do not hesitate to email me for the recipes.
Today is Eid-ul-Fitr, it marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. This holiday is celebrated in Guyana and throughout the world in Muslim communities. Happy Eid-ul-Fitr to my multi-cultural family, friends and readers of this blog.
86 comments:
Adore macaroni cheese. Imagine the pumpkin's sweetness would work really well in it. Will definitely try this out!
I like the look of your macaroni, pumpkin & cheese pie a lot. The sweet potato salad looks lovely and I think I might actually like sweet potatoes if they were in a salad like this . Thanks for the idea, Cynthia
Love the macroni, pumpkin and cheese. It looked so creamy and cheesy yummy
Yes sometimes a dash of creativity helps you whip up an interesting dish, that brings novelty to the dining table. the macaroni looks quite yummy.
enjoy your vacation
Shn
WoW Cynthia what delicious dishes , I love potatos, even if I don't know what tast the sweet one have, your dish of pasta is wonderful, kisses from Italy
Hi Cynthia, as someone who grew up with sweet potato pie as a "pie-pie", I must say that your more savory version looks just as delicious.
i like your pies much better than the sweet stuff we get here. they look comforting and i can tell they smell awesome.
I'm not a fan of macaroni cheese, but yours looks tempting. Luv the Pineapple upside down cake alot.
Wow, sweet potato pie with pineapple rings and cherries...that looks wonderful. I looove sweet potatoes.
Looks delicious! It's a little more than the average dish, that's for sure.
Pumpkin Mac & Cheese....brilliant!
great array of food you have got there. I love the idea of macaroni with pumpkin. I really love the taste of sweet with savoury.
Loved (what I thought was the pineaple upside down cake!!!)
Believe it or not I have never had mac n cheese here!! maybe its time to try!!
You know what, sonny boy has been craving for some mac and cheese for quite some time...your's reminded me of that...lovely pies.
Cynthia, I subscribe to your school of thought :) there is no recipe that is tamper proof.
I am not too fond of potato salad but Sweet Potato salad is something else altogether.
We grew up making a sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving which was basically mashed sweet potatoes with butter and pineapple chunks mixed in. That's it. Oh, there was probably sugar in it when I was a kid, but since I've been in charge of that dish, I've left the sugar out, as well as the marshmallows which my mom put on top for us kids. The end result is much more in keeping with your sweet potato dish. I'm sure I'd love yours!
I love the sweet potato salad idea. Every year, the day after Thanksgiving I have a "Leftover Open House" and in addition to leftovers, I serve Bloody Marys, a honey-baked ham and potato salad. This year, I will serve Cynthia's Sweet Potato Salad. Love it! Thanks!
This is such a great idea. I love your variations. So flavourful and beautifully presented!
Wow, if nobody tampered with a recipe, how will so many food blogs survive right? :) The sweet potato pie looks super delicious, with those pineapple (?) wedges... Yummy stuff!
How did you manage to cut a perfect square? I always manage to crumble the whole pie :(
Cynthia, as always, these dishes look incredible. I have to say your sweet potato pie looks MUCH better than the stuff we have here in the states. If I give you my address, will you ship me care packages from time to time? :)
yum! My kids being kids love mac and cheese and i am always looking for ways to add more veggies.. looks wonderful!
This pie really is something different...:)Great pictures..!
What a lovely post. I always love your bread and pudding recipes. I love these two breads. Mac and cheese with the pumpking sounds good. The salad is wonderful with sweet potato. The pineapple upside down sweet potato pie is great, looks mouth watering. Could send me the recipes of all and I also loved your plantain and eggplant recipes. And ofcourse all the teas. How can I forget that. I am a tea lover and just like you years back I was Earlgrey fan and now I have turned to Tetley. I love it because it has a strong flavor. Earlygrey after a while I thought was too mild for me. Please send me the plaintain roll ups recipe too my dear. I would love it.
Hugs
Ooooo reading your articles before a meal can be harmful, especially when food is not easily accessible on a lazy weekend. Now I've to buck out from my house to go buy some food ... grrrr ... stomach is growling mad ! Still loving your photographs ....
Cynthia, the sweet potato I get here is so hard I have to hack it with an axe, so I don't cook it v often. Your pix and column were a treat to read.
Wow, what a European twist! But I like your faithfulness to sweet potaotes. That had to taste just fabulous.
I am going to make mac and cheese for sunday lunch with crispy roast pork - thank you Cyn - was running out of ideas.
wow!! cynthis amazing pies, never made a salad with sweet potatoes, all yoour unique recipes are amazing!!!
a definite try!!!
Cynthia, enjoyed your article. Pie looks very appealing.
Cynthia you are very talented I must say, give me a piece of that pie, puhleeez.
That pie looks like pineapple upside down. No matter. It's right side up to me!
Siempre es un placer visitar tu exquisito blog y ver todas tus recetas.
Besotes,
Ana y VÃctor.
These dishes look great...I would love to try the mac & cheese in particular. Also, the sweet potato pie looks very tasty!
What lovely, novel variations you have for the all-time favorites. The macaroni and cheese pie looks fabulous.
You are so fabulously creative, Cynthia...you have thought of combinations I would never have come up with, and then you make them sound so appetizing, and look so pretty that I sit here thinking wow, that's a genius idea! And sweet potatoes in a potato salad sounds perfect, especially at this time of year. Great ideas, as always, from your kitchen, Cynthia. :-)
Macaroni bake is fantastic cynthia!:)) Liked all the pictures. Tampering is good as it leads to great ideas!:))
Cynthia!
The mac'n'pumpkin'n'cheese looks divine! I've checked out those pictures for the tenth time today! :)
Macaroni, pumkin and cheese - sounds great! Hope you're well Cynthia.
Everything looks so good, but it's the sweet potatoes in the salad that I'm thinking of, sounds so delicious!
I like what you did with all three dishes. You gave me some great ideas for the upcoming holiday meals. They all look fitting for the change of season. Thanks :)
Adding pumpkin to mac and cheese is a great idea. I can imagine they would go beautifully together.
Sweet potato pie is interestive Cynthia. Viji
you are so creative, cynthia!!! i really want to try the salad and macroni and pumpkin pie!
My kids love pie, specially chicken Pot pie. Looks yummy Cynthia!:))
Mac and Cheese comes usually for the pack for us!:D
Love the Pineapple pie, slurp!!:)
Cynthia......Those were pretty novel ideas.......A slight twist would bring in so much freshness in our recipes....loved ur pie the most :-)
One thing I loved in BArbados was macaroni pie. Your pumkin version looks so perfectly autmunal. I'll have to try a vegan version ;)
Tampering is a good thing!
how in the world did you manage to cut it into a square!!!! macaroni, cheese and pumpkin sounds so delicious - i can almost smell it here
Hello Cynthai...Very creative and excellent dishes....
Your recipes always amaze me. I am especially taken by that mac and cheese with pumpkin. I will be emailing you for that recipe!!
Macroni. pumpkin and cheese looks delicious.yumm..........
I love all your pies and dishes, but my favorite will have to be that mac, cheese and pumpkin. Yummy!
Sneaking the pumpkin into the macaroni and cheese is divine inspiration Cynthia!!!
yummm..yummm..yummyyy!!!..Cynthia!!..lov all the three...
was away on a small break as of Id here.and trust me, urs was the first blog i visited after mine!!!
Shhhhh.....don't let the ones who eat it know you've sneaked soemthing into it! :)
I love all recipes! What great ideas! Lately, I have made a Macaroni Cheese with pumpkin and it was fabulous... I'm soon going to blog about that (Thursday).
Cheers,
Rosa
cynthia,
all looks delicious and i like dthe sweet potato pie with pineapple .
All your dishes look great! I love the mac and cheese idea. Will have to give it a try.
Pumpkin with mac & cheese, you have some imagination. Loved the salad
Pumpkin mac & cheese? How come I never thought of that?! I love pumpkin...I need to try it!
I like all that were prepared! Wooo...that mac n cheese.......
Just in time for the holiday season.
hey Cynthia, u never cease to amaze me with ur unique creations!!
mac n cheese with pumpkin sounds great, will try it this season :)
The pumpkin macaroni and cheese pie looks soo good! I like the idea of a sweet potato pie.
ohhh...that potato salad looks too good. It reminds me of the younger days when my mom made potato salad with peas and carrots and mixed it with japanese mayo. That was to die for.
Hello :)
I just wanted to stop by and rave about your blog a bit...
It is "beyond wonderful" to be honest! The layout is very organized and colorful, and you take great amounts of time to write thoughtful stories leading up to your recipes, i love that! Thank you very much for remembering Eid ul Fitr for us Muslims, I cant tell you just how special it feels coming from someone half way across the world who i dont even know, but has that courtesy to say it...It only makes me guilty of not doing the same! Ive added your blog to my links list and I do hope that it helps more people reach it because I think it deserves alot of credit for the time and effort you have put into it! Thank you for sharing such a wonderfully delicious little piece of your life with us!
love,sultana :)
Waouuu! It's so delicious. Good recipe
Gosh Cynthia, your pie sure looks beautiful & delicious. I've never tried macaroni & cheese pie with pumpkin though, I'm quite scared that it lets out too much water. Am I wrong here?
Dear Cynthia,
These dishes look incredible, I try to do this potatos dicho, is very cute.
I love you,
Soraya.
The pumpkin mac and cheese sounds really good...and I just happen to have some pumpkin that needs eaten. I may have to experiment today!
All 3 are just fantastic! such great ideas. The macaroni, pumpkin & cheese pie has me drolling big time though.
I had been planning to make sweet potato salad all summer, but never did. I think it sounds like such a great idea. And being from New England, I'm a huge fan of the sweet sweet potato pie! It's one the best things about the cold weather! And egg nog! ; )
You got an awards, check my blog for details and I love those beautiful snaps...Sweet potatoes r my DH's favo too
hey Cyn, great looking recipes:) I am sorry about late visit. Hope all is going great!
I think all of the recipes sound delicious, but the pumpkin mac 'n cheese is my favorite.
I hold a special place in my heart for mac 'n cheese.
I missed this post, (I think problem with blogger)..
Love the pie, nice color. Was thinking to post mac, cheese pie as in the way Arabs cook..thanks for this post Cynthia..
that was so creative of you !
Hi Cynthia,
How are u doing?Macaroni really tempts alot...wow!all the recipe are awesome...Thanks for sharing dear.
I started adding sweet potato- the yellow ones, to my Potato Salad about 2 years ago. It was one of the best additions Ive ever made to a regular recipe. I really like the idea of putting pumpkin in the macaroni and cheese. Im definitely going to try that.
Hmm...I never thought to try pumpkin in my mac n cheese... :-p
Macaroni and cheese with pumpkin sounds like a heavenly seasonal treat! Great idea, and happy Eid!
Hey Cynthia, loved your twist!! I just made mini pineapple upside-down cakes..looks so much like your sweet potato/pineapple pic!! mac n cheese are absolute favs!!
btw, would you be able to send in something for my AFAM-peach event?? I'd be very happy to have your entry:)
As usual..very creative and very nice dishes Cynthia. I am getting crazy about Mac n cheese day by day :D.
Wendy - you must!
TBC - you are welcome!
Happy Cook, Shn, Ady, Marvin, Bee, Rina, RasaM, Kelly, Peter, Saju, Sunita, Indo, Truffle, Sig, Archana, Zuzana, Padmaja, Srivalli, Bindiya, Susan, Ana & Victor, Laavanya, Latha, Amanda, Kelly-Jane, Maryann, KJ, Valli, Asha, Sirisha, Deepa, Deborah, Rohini, EMW, Valli, Prajusha, Sandeepa, Tigerfish, Richa, Kevin, Pom d'Api, Andy, Anali, Sharmi, Emilie, Seena, Nanditha, Amanda & Shilpa - I appreciate all of you and thank you for making this blog such a labour of love.
Toni - yes! yours is!
Lori-Lynn - I am honoured! Wish I could be there.
Suganya - You have to let the pie cool a bit. I've sent you an email.
Elly - it would be my pleasure.
Raks - Thank you and a very warm welcome! Do come back and visit when you have the time.
Foodie - I've left a message on your blog to email me as I don't seem to have your email address :(
Thank you for your flattering comments. :)
Timothy - you are good for my ego (lol)
Sra - hacking sweet potatoes with an axe! those are indeed some hard SP :D
Denise - I want some of that crispy roast pork!
Meeso - recipes sent.
Belinda - stop making me blush! :) alright, go on (lol)
KayKat - thanks for your kind comment and a warm welcome. I can see that we are going to be best friends :)
Lissi - thank you very much. I don't have your email address to send the recipes, so please email me.
Urban Vegan - in Barbados, a cook is worth his or her salt if they can make good macaroni pie :D seriously.
Lakshmi - let it cool for a little while when it comes out of the oven. The longer it cools, the more uniform it will cut.
Kitchen Scientist - I am truly honoured!
Jyothsna - yeah, let's keep it a secret :)
Rosa - I saw it yesterday and I love it!
Half-baked - please do!
Caff. Cowgirl - you've got to. I'm sure that Little Man will like it.
Valerie - how is the Japanese Mayo different? I'd love to try it.
Sultana - I cannot begin to tll you how appreciative I am of your comments. You have made my week. I thank you sincerely and look forward to your visits.
ValentinA - steam or boil the pumpkin and drain completely. Mash the pumpkin and you can do one of two things: add the mashed pumpkin to the cream-cheese sauce just before mixing up the macaroni or mix the macaroni and pumpkin together before adding the cheese sauce. Bake the pie uncovered. Be sure to use on the amount of liquid-cheese-sauce as the recipe suggests.
Soraya - thank you very much dearest. You are thought of fondly too.
Malow - thank you! and a big welcome!
Padma - I saw the award! Thank you!
Usha - how are you? I missed seeing you around. I'm fine. Thanks for asking.
Willow Tree - a warm Caribbean welcome to you and for taking the time to visit and comment. Hope to see you around.
Chef Tom - well, now you can :)
Mansi - Hi hon, I've sent you an email re: the AFAM event.
Sweet potatoes are available sporadically in Sweden. I have seen them in the supermarket´s cool vegetable counter together with regular potatoes. I don´t think they should be kept there They are a different vegetable, aren´t they?
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(I have been having problems loading your blog recently, Cynthia(though not today) - my computer seems to hung up on something now and then).
Your blog is so wonderful and very informative... Recipes are mouth watering..... Thanks for all your beautiful tips....
Cynthia ur recipes look amazing and mouth watering?I am curious about something i hope u wouldn't mind answering.If u r Guyanese how come u make so many Indian recipes or Guyanese cuisine is similar to Indian cuisine?
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