Sweet Potato Gratin

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 cup cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 leeks, white portion only, well rinsed and chopped
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter

Steam sweet potatoes until soft. Allow to cool, then peel and mash, or place in food processor. Sauté chopped leeks in 2 tbsp. butter for 15 minutes or so, until caramelized. Add the leeks to the mashed sweet potatoes, along with the other ingredients, except the remaining butter. Mash together, or if using food processor, pulse 5-7 times until blended. Use the remaining butter to grease a gratin dish or glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake mixture at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Spicy Beef Short Ribs

• 6-7 short ribs
• flour for dredging
• 2 large yellow onions
• 1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
• grated peel of one orange
• juice of same orange
• 2 heaping tablespoons of ground cumin
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 jar of green olives with pimento
• 1 large handful of cilantro, rinsed and chopped
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 3-4 cups of chicken or beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• olive oil
• rice
• tortillas

Dredge short ribs in flour, salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in skillet and brown meat on all sides. In a large Dutch oven, fry sliced onions in olive oil until lightly brown. Add meat, cumin, olives, wine, stock, orange juice and peel, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and salt and pepper. Simmer for at least three hours. Serve with rice and tortillas with plenty of cilantro as garnish. Fried plantain bananas make a nice side dish with this.

Chile

• 2 large onions
• olive oil for frying onions
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 pound beef or pork, cubed
• 3-4 andouille or Cajun sausages
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 heaping tablespoons cumin
• assorted dried peppers, to your taste and temperament
• 1/2 of a 4 oz. can of chipotle peppers
• 4 cans of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken or beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large bunch of cilantro
• salt to taste

Sauté onions in olive oil until transparent in a big pot, then add chopped garlic. While your onions are cooking, brown meat and sausages in a separate pan. Add browned meat to the pot with the onions, then add everything else; cumin, bell pepper, chipotle peppers and any other peppers or spice you have on hand. Then add the tomatoes and beans. Cover the whole with chicken stock, and add the bay leaf. Add half the cilantro. Simmer for 2-3 hours. Garnish with remaining cilantro. Serve over rice with tortillas.