*Santa Fe Thanksgiving Custard

Santa Fe Sweet Potato Custards

(This one is for Jackie…)

When fall starts to rear its gloriously colored head,
giddiness rains down on me like
acorns crashing through the canopy.

After a lovely month of rest in the Ozarks, the road trip back west to Oregon landed us in New Mexico our first night. Long touted as “The Shit” by Brian, I was excited to see Santa Fe. We moseyed our way up for breakfast from Albuquerque on the sunniest, clearest, crunchiest of mornings. “Gorgeous” did not do it justice. The air up there smelled of fallen leaves and that certain aroma from when I lived in Arizona. It reminded me of my favorite quote from some little film starring Peter O’Toole,

Jackson Bentley: “What attracts you personally to the desert?”
T.E. Lawrence: ” It’s clean.”

Being in such a unique place with massively fun indigenous cuisine was not unlike giving a stoner a suitcase full of cash and sending them to Amsterdam. I was completely hooked on all the possibilities that can come from such magical ingredients as cactus, sage, piloncillo, blue corn, berries, gourds and, oh yes, My Sweet….CHILES! We spent the greater part of the mileage with the netbook on my lap, fingers smokin’ on the keys, brainstorming and developing recipes with flavor profiles from the area. It helped a good deal that there were two ginormous bags of fresh dried red chiles in the back of the Subaru, smelling up the car.

Without further ado, I bring you a fun, spiced dessert to serve at Thanksgiving that will leave your tongue dancing and your mind wandering down the Old Santa Fe Trail as you pass out from Tryptophan poisoning.

(Start the evening before)

Santa Fe Thanksgiving Custards

Makes 8- 4 ounce ramekins or one pie

(Adapted from Chowhound)

15 ounces roasted sweet potato, strained

10 fl oz whipping cream

3 large eggs

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 red dried NM chile, all but the stem, halved

4 cloves, whole

1 t sweet paprika

Slowly simmer the crumbled chili, cloves, ginger and paprika in 10 fluid ounces of cream for ten or fifteen minutes the day before making the custards. Let cool and chill overnight. Carefully blend the cream to puree the chili without making whipped cream. Run through a fine mesh strainer and measure out 8 fluid ounces for the recipe. Toss the rest of the cream or use it over tomato soup.

Roast halved sweet potatoes cut side down on parchment paper until soft. Let cool, scoop flesh and run through a fine strainer. Measure out 15 ounces for the recipe.

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, salt and sweet potato puree. Blend smooth. Add sugars and vanilla until blended smooth. Whisk in cream.

Place 8 ramekins into a baking pan and fill with 4 ounces of mixture. Put pan into oven and add boiling water to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 30-40 minutes until just starting to puff (see image above). Turn off the oven, open the door slightly and shove a folded oven mitt in the door to prop it open as it cools. Leave it for an hour and don’t play any hoop, use a pogo stick or do any slam dancing in the kitchen.

Serve slightly warm with a nice, soft whipped cream using vanilla, a little shaved white chocolate sprinkle and a dash of nutmeg.

Note: I did do an experiment using freshly roasted sugar, or pie pumpkin. Although I preferred the less sweet version and the slightly rough texture, I found sweet potato tasty and amusing with the chili heat. You may use canned pumpkin puree, just make sure it is well drained (I put mine in a coffee filter lined collander overnight in the fridge).