Suzy Fleming Leonard: Cocoa Beach chef shares his twist on Thanksgiving sweet potatoes
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Chef Jason Bunin doesn't do "normal." Anyone who's visited his Flavour Kitchen & Wine Bar in Cocoa Beach knows that.
But he's not above honoring the traditional dishes of Thanksgiving — sort of.
For the past several weeks, the chef has offered his twist on favorite holiday side dishes in videos posted on YouTube and the restaurant's social media pages.
Sweet potato casserole, green beans and mashed potatoes are great, he said, but why not shake things up a bit?
"My inspiration was to keep the holiday feeling with other options," he said. "You want to impress? Try this."
"This" refers to four quick, customizable side dishes: roasted cauliflower gratin, stuffed sweet potatoes, artichoke pancakes and barbecue eggplant lasagna.
"If you can cook a potato, you can cook cauliflower," he said of the gratin, which has a rich creamy sauce and a bubbly cheese topping.
The lasagna is made with zucchini, yellow tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, plus barbecue sauce and Asiago cheese.
The artichoke pancakes, topped with a basil ricotta, are Bunin's non-traditional, traditional take on potato pancakes.
He made a giant stuffed sweet potato with ham, dried fruit and a splash of bourbon topped with mini-marshmallows.
Growing up in New York, Bunin didn't have traditional family Thanksgivings. His mother worked on holidays.
"We fended for ourselves," he said. Dinner might have been Chinese food or something from a nearby diner.
Now that he's an adult, he spends Thanksgiving making meals for Flavour Kitchen guests.
"We've got 106 reservations," he said. He'll be serving a three-course prix fixe dinner from 2-8 p.m.
But for those of us who prefer a traditional, home-cooked Thanksgiving meal, the chef's twist on old favorites could be just what we need to shake things up a bit.
Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 small sweet potatoes or 2 large ones
3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cranberries, mangoes)
½ cup chopped bacon or fatty ham
¼ cup chopped shallots
½ cup bourbon
¼ cup maple syrup
Mini marshmallows
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and bake until soft, 45 minutes to an hour.
Warm a medium skillet over medium heat. Add pecans and 1 tablespoon of oil. Stir constantly until nuts are toasted and golden brown, about 1 minute. (Be careful not to burn the pecans.)
Add dried fruit, bacon or ham and shallots to the pan, plus the remaining cooking oil. (Add 1 tablespoon at a time. You many not need both tablespoons if you are using fatty bacon.)
When the bacon starts to crisp and release its fat, about 2 minutes, add bourbon to the skillet. Do this carefully, especially if you are using a gas stove, as the liquor may flame.
The mixture should smell "smoky, fruity, nutty, delicious," according to Bunin.
Continue cooking over medium heat until the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour mixture into a large, heat-safe mixing bowl. Add maple syrup and stir to combine.
Remove potatoes from the oven, unwrap and let cool slightly. Cut ½ to ¾ inch off the long side of each potato. Scoop the flesh out of the potato, leaving about ¼ of flesh on the skin to form a bowl.
Add the potato flesh to the bowl with the fruit and nut mixture. Combine well. Fill the potato skins with the mixture and put the potatoes back in the oven. Cook until heated through, 6 to 8 minutes.
Sprinkle mini-marshmallows across the top of each potato, and brown them with a culinary torch. Don't have a culinary torch? Pop the potatoes under the oven's broiler until the marshmallows turn golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Watch them carefully.
Serve immediately.
Note: This recipe can easily be customized to the tastes of your family and guests. Make it without the meat, stir the marshmallows inside, skip the fruit. Add more nuts and less fruit. Use small acorn squashes instead of sweet potatoes.
Bunin also suggests making sweet-potato-skin appetizers. Instead of cheese, bacon and sour cream, use fruit, bacon and marshmallows. "All of a sudden, wow, Thanksgiving," he said.
More about Flavour Kitchen
Flavour Kitchen & Wine Bar is at 15 N. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach. Call 321-613-3573 or visit flavourkitchencb.com.
The restaurant is booked for Thanksgiving, but Bunin recommends guests call to get on the waiting list in case diners cancel.
Watch Bunin's Thanksgiving side videos and other how-to videos at facebook.com/flavourkitchencb, instagram.com/flavourkitchencb, on youtube.com or on the restaurant's website.
Suzy Fleming Leonard is a veteran features journalist. You can reach her via email at sleonard@floridatoday.com. Or you can find her on Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Shake up Thanksgiving with this stuffed sweet potato recipe
