Eggs and Sweet Potatoes with Cottage Cheese Chipotle Sauce

It’s been happening more this winter. Last Saturday Bennett and I stayed in and watched a high-pitched, giggling Mozart in Amadeus. And this Saturday, after a large group birthday dinner for a friend, we snuck off for our sweats and lumpy couch; I pined for young (handsome and bumbling) Hugh Grant and attacked the acting ability of Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral. And is it just me, but wasn’t it difficult to determine the (link is a spoiler!) gay couple until the very end? I guess that’s 1994 for you.

Because of our tame night, breakfast became more than the usual scrambled eggs and bagels. I decided our first meal should include vegetables, particularly sweet potatoes, after I read this glowing article from the NYT.

Eggs and Sweet Potatoes with Cottage Cheese-Chipotle Sauce

Use a mandoline to create even, thin slices of sweet potato. Season one side with salt and pepper and lay that side down in a combination of oil and butter, but with not so much fat as to submerge the slices, in a hot pan. While the first side is cooking, season the second side and flip over once they are browned. If oil still clings to the potatoes as you remove them, you can place them on a paper towel and then put them into a low oven to keep warm. You will probably need to do this in batches.

While the sweet potatoes cook, create a quick sauce by combing cottage cheese*, one chipotle in adobo, and then some of the sauce, a few sprigs (leave and stems) of cilantro (saving some for a garnish), salt and pepper and buzzing around in a food processor. If it’s a little thick, add just a bit of warm water and re-buzz.

*A note on cottage cheese. This is the second surprising and successful usage of this unique cheese in as many weeks. Last weekend I used it instead of milk to create a corn cake (also staring cilantro) to top a bowl of chili and this weekend, as you can see, it took the place of sour cream or cream cheese in a sauce. I’m really digging cottage cheese.

I used a stainless steel pan to cook the sweet potatoes, which requires plenty of fat, and can leave delicious bits of goodness on the bottom. I let a diced half onion soak up the extra oil, butter and seasonings on a still-hot pan while I fried two eggs in another pan (*gift alert* — Beka non-stick).

Assemble the dish by swirling some sauce on the bottom of the plate, then piling on the sweet potato disks, then onions, then the egg, more sauce a final sprinkling of black pepper. Garnish with more cilantro.