Subscribe
Menu

Cumin Sweet Potato and Gruyere Timbales

Prep Time:  35-45 Minutes

     Cook Time:  18-20 Minutes

     Serves:  8

I don’t know what took me so long, but I just discovered Forgotten Valley’s Gruyere last summer. Later, on a nippy evening in fall, I thought about melting it again, and these puffy sweet potato timbales came to be.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. butter, plus a little for the baking cups
  • 3 Tbsp. minced shallots
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic, mashed to a paste with the flat of a knife
  • 1 1⁄2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1⁄2 tsp. smoked paprika
  • Salt and pepper 1 Tbsp. flour
  • 1⁄2 cup whole or two-percent milk
  • 1 cup coarsely grated Forgotten Valley or other aged Gruyere cheese, divided
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potato puree
  • 3 large eggs, separated and then brought to room temperature

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 6 to 8 small soufflé cups or ramekins. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in saucepan over medium-low flame.
  2. Add shallots, garlic, cumin and smoked paprika, plus a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and keep cooking, stirring often, a few more minutes.
  3. Whisk in milk a little at a time, then keep stirring until mixture has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in about 1⁄4 cup of the Gruyere until smooth. Whisk in another 1⁄4 cup of cheese. Whisk in sweet potato puree. Now whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Scrape mixture into a big bowl; cool completely.
  4. Using a clean bowl and electric beaters or a clean whisk, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Whisk about 1⁄4 of the egg whites into the sweet potato mixture. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in remaining egg whites (a few white streaks of egg white remaining is good here).
  5. Immediately divide mixture into buttered dishes, sprinkle with remaining cheese and place on baking sheet.
  6. Bake until puffed and set, 17 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, get your eaters seated at the table. When the timbales are done, serve them up without delay.

Notes