Late night snack...?

Okay, the truth is, I didn't get around to making dinner until 10:00pm and after all the cooking was completed it wasn't until midnight! So I call this a gourmet late night snack (sure, my Shugy bear was starving, but it all turned out great). (Oh, and in case you're wondering who the heck Shugy bear is, its my boyfriend, and its pronounced like "Sugar" only with an 'y' sound at the end). So here it is: Sweet Mashed Potatoes, Mini Cheese and Onion Tarts, soup (not homemade), and toast!

The Sweet Mashed Potatoes came from my mom's boyfriend's recipe. One night, back in Phoenix, he came over and made the most incredible sweet mashed potatoes I'd ever had. I typically don't like my sweet potatoes loaded with various sugars, marshmellows, etc., I generally just like salt. But these, are a perfect combination of sweet and salty flavors.

Recipe:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter; cut into 4 pieces

2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used half and half to save a few calories and they still taste great)

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 large or 3 medium-small potatoes (I used 6 very small, skinny ones)

pinch of black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients (except pepper) into a medium to large sized saucepan; cook, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork, about 35-45 minutes. You may need to increase to medium if they are not breaking down.

2. Off heat, mash sweet potatoes with a potato masher. In my case, I just kept stirring and mashing as it cooked (with a whisk because I don't have an electric mixer) until it was smooth. Stir in pepper; serve immediately. 

In the meantime, while those were cooking, I started on the "Mini Cheese and Onion Tarts", also known as mini quiches! 

Dough: 

3/4 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 1/2 tablespoons butter, diced

2 tablespoons water

Filling:

1 egg, beaten

generous 1/3 cup of light cream (I used half and half)

1/2 cup grated jack or colby cheese (I used half monterey and half colby jack)

3 scallions, finely chopped

salt

cayenne pepper

1. To make the dough, put flour and butter into mixing bowl, add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the water, bring together to form a dough, and shape into a ball. Cover with plastic and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter. Stamp out 12 circles from the dough using a 3-inch cookie cuter and use them to line a muffin pan. In my case, I pressed it out because I don't have a rolling pin, and I used a wine glass because I don't have a cookie cutter! Hey, you gotta improvise when you're a beginner! It's okay that they don't cover the whole cup.

3. To make filling, whisk the beaten egg, cream, grated cheese, and scallions together. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. 

4. Scoop just enough filling to fill each tart shell (about an 1/8 cup each) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until the filling is just set. Serve hot, or let cool on wire rack. 

 Yes, it was undoubtedly a random late night snack, but with a bowl of soup it went together just great! I highly recommend both. The potatoes came from Max Bessler who got it from "Cook's Illustrated", and the mini tarts came from my "Greatest Ever Baking" cookbook. ~~A~~