Monday, March 19, 2007

March 13, 2007: Sweet potato and adobo pies


We're only having the odd cool autumn day in Melbourne but the calendar has given me permission to launch into warm, comforting pies for dinner. Less than a week after our sausage rolls I was into the puff pastry again, for a recipe that I'd bookmarked from 101 cookbooks. The filling is a creamy but cheese-free concoction featuring diced sweet potato and corn kernels. But don't be fooled by its meek and mild appearance - the delicious smokey aroma comes from the addition of some fiery adobo sauce!


The only change I made from Heidi's recipe was to substitute plain flour for the cornstarch: it's what I had on hand and it thickens the sauce just as well. Our adobo sauce supply was running low and I probably didn't add the full tablespoon - even so, my initial test-tasting of the filling had my throat aflame! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do more than nibble this meal but by the time the pies emerged from the oven, I found that the sauce was much milder.


On Tuesday night I imitated Heidi's pretty picture by filling ramekins and topping with pastry. My photos might not be quite as professional but I can assure you that this didn't diminish the eating experience at all! On the side we had our usual baby spinach leaves, wilted in just a touch of olive oil. With the leftover mixture I constructed larger square pies, as in the top photo. They're a bit less fiddly and have a higher pastry-to-filling ratio. Michael and I both thoroughly enjoyed this recipe, and it will no doubt reappear on our table once we've replenished our adobo sauce stocks.

2 comments:

  1. Where do you get Adobo sauce? Im in Melb aswell :)

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  2. We bought a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce from Casa Iberica, at 25 Johnston St, Fitzroy. The peppers are relatively mild but the sauce is surprisingly hot and deliciously smoky. :-) You can see a photo of the can at the top of this post.

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