BAKED SWEET POTATO FRIES

This recipe is from Eileen.  Her family loved these Sweet Potato Fries served with brisket and oven-roasted broccoli, cauliflower, and garlic.

They sound incredibly easy and delicious.  I am going to make these soon--Thanks, Eileen!

3 large sweet potatoes 

2 tbls Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbls real maple syrup

Preheat oven to 450˚.  Sweet potatoes can be peeled or unpeeled.  In either case, be sure to dry them very well after rinsing, so that the oil and seasonings adhere and the fries do not turn out soggy. Cut into 1/2-inch thick slices, then chop each slice into 3-4 pieces lengthwise.  Toss gently with olive oil, coating fries well, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet; do not crowd the slices.  Bake for 10-15 minutes. Turn sweet potato fries over, and drizzle maple syrup over all.  Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until tender and golden brown.  Bake longer if you want them darker and crispier.

SWEET AND SPICY MUSHROOM STIR FRY

I found this recipe on Simply Recipes.  It's a great site that I recently discovered--check it out here.
If you like mushrooms, you're going to love this recipe!  I used about 20 ounces of mushrooms, and that was plenty.  I also stir-fried about 11/2 lbs of chicken breast and added that to the final assembly to turn this into a heartier main dish. 
I used sesame oil and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  Next time I will increase the red pepper flakes to increase the spicy quotient.
This was delicious served over Tsuru Mai brown rice and topped with the toasted sesame seeds.

Glaze:
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if cooking gluten-free)

Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine or cooking sherry
1 tablespoon corn starch

Stir-Fry:
3 tablespoons sesame, grapeseed, or other high smoke-point oil
2 lbs mixed mushrooms (oyster, crimini, button, shitake, enoki, whathaveyou...), roughly chopped or quartered into bite-sized pieces
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2-5 dried red chilies, roughly chopped OR 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 1/2 cups of snow peas or snap peas, de-stringed
8 green onions, chopped
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Assembly:
Make the glaze by whisking together the stock, honey, and soy sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Make the sauce by whisking together the stock, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, cooking wine or sherry, and the corn starch in a bowl and set that aside as well.

Place 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. When the oil is glistening and a bead of water evaporates in under a second, add the mushrooms and toss. Allow the mushrooms to cook for a few minutes until they start to give up their water (you'll see their water in the pan). When they do, add the glaze. Allow the glaze to boil off, stirring occasionally, about 5-6 minutes. When barely any liquid remains in the pan, take the mushrooms off the heat and set them aside in a bowl. There may be bits of sugar caramelized to the side of the pan, don't fret about it. Do not clean out the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilies, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the snow peas and green onions and toss for about 30 more seconds.

Increase heat to high. Add the sauce and allow the mixture to come to a boil. The sauce will thicken considerably. Add the mushrooms (and chicken, if using) back to the mixture and cook for about 20 more seconds. Remove from heat. Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds.

Serves 4