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There are several variations on this. I was inspired by a visit to Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham, WA where I first tried “Yam alechiladas”. I don’t claim to know their exact recipe, but basically red yams are mixed with chipotle and some other ingredients.

Yam enchiladas

Ingredients
3 large red garnet yams (yams are way better than sweet potatoes for this).
1 pkg corn tortillas
2-3 chipotle peppers (you can use canned or the dried sort if you soak them in water first)
optional canned enchilada sauce
optional shredded jack/cheddar cheese

1) Bake the yams at 350F until done (let’s say 45min+)
2) After they are baked and cool a bit, peel them.
Add ~1/2 water (or milk/cream), yams and chipolte peppers into a blender. The peppers are to taste, and I usually make them too hot. Just throw in 1 pepper is unsure.
3) blend
4) spatula the yam mix into corn tortillas, roll them up and place into a big casserole dish. You can optionally add canned enchilada sauce and shredded cheese on top
5) bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes

There are tons of variations on this you’ll find googling.

Fresh Garden Salsa
This last spring I planted 3 tomato plants in a raised vegetable garden. I also planted a bunch of herbs and onions. For reasons unknown our dog took issues with the onions, otherwise I was able to make this salsa completely from ingredients grown in Puget Sound during the summer.

Ingredients:
1/2 sweet onion (I like walla walla)
1 bunch cilantro
1 small habanero pepper
3-4 small/med sized tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt

1) dice up the onion finely – add to large mixing bowl
2) cut the cilantro bunch in half, at the thickest part of the stems and discard the stems
3) dice up the cilantro as small as you can – add to bowl
4) cut in half the habanero – carefully dicard the stem and internal seeds
5) dice up hab. pepper as finely as possible and add to bowl
6) dice up the tomatoes – 1/4″ cubes or smaller work well – add to bowl
7) add salt and stir vigorously – this juices everything up
refrigerate – you can enjoy whenever, but I find the flavors peak after 4 hours

After several months of not logging in, I’ve decided it’s time to give blogging another shot.   I’ve updated the blog software,  and cleaned out a few hundred thousand spam comments.  In the age of Tweets, FaceBook status and other play by play digital alerts, I’ve come to enjoy reading long form articles more than I used to.

If this post is any evidence, writing is not that easy – at least not easy for most people.  Any bozo can post “tired, need coffee” on tweeter.  That’s not writing, that’s like a weirdo on the public bus telling you about his cat.

I don’t mean to rant, I just want to inspire myself to produce some half-way readable content.  If you are into reading adventure blogs, check out Dave Liddell’s latest epic detailing his travels by bicycle through southern Peru.

Enjoy.
-Sean