Heritage Camote (Sweet Potato) Flour

With over 35 species of corn, 2000 varieties of potatoes, and 650 native species of fruit, Peru is an important center for genetic diversity. But many of the hardy plant species held in honored positions in Indian society for thousands of years were deliberately replaced by European species after the Spanish Conquest. Fortunately in the high Andes, the ancient influences still persist, and unique and highly nutritious grains such as amaranth, quinoa, and kañiwa are now available to the outside world. This is especially beneficial today as many people become more sensitized to the over-produced and engineered foods found in common western diets. They are naturally gluten-free and offer many other health benefits.

Peruvian Nature, a family owned company, was founded in 2001 mainly to work with a family group of Maca farmers (the Campos family) in the Juni region, the central mountains of Peru. Peruvian Nature has worked with the Campos family farmers to improve their infrastructure, obtain organic certification, and with continued trainings. This has given the farmers a better price for their product and a secure client base. Since then, Peruvian Nature has expanded to include many spices, other root vegetables such as Yacon and Camote, or sweet potato. The company makes an effort to work directly with the farmers to improve cultivation techniques, encourage organic farming, and support their local economies.

Peruvian Nature has their processing facility in Lima, where they select, disinfect, cut and dry the raw materials. They use a combination of traditional techniques (sorting and selecting) to modern technology (organic sterilization system) to produce a high quality and safe products, while directly supporting their farmers. Their facility is gluten-free.

A Rooted Foods Product.

• 1 cup sweet potato flour
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt in one bowl. Mix the eggs, milk, and extra virgin olive oil in another bowl. Combine the contents of both bowls in a larger bowl, and mix until smooth (use a whisk). This mixture must be pourable, so if it is too thick, add a bit more milk.

Add a small amount of butter or duck fat to a griddle or skillet on medium-high heat. Take 2 Tablespoons of batter and add it to the skillet. Flip the pancake once you see the entire surface covered in bubbles. Cook the other side. Cook an equal amount of time. Sweet potato flour is denser than other flours, so it will take slightly longer, maybe an extra 5 seconds, to cook through compared to traditional pancakes.

• 1 cup sweet potato flour
• 8 cups bread flour
• 1 cup instant mashed potatoes
• 9 teaspoons instant yeast
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 6 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 cups water, room temperature

Mix the water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Allow it to sit, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes as the yeast eats the sugar and the mixture becomes bubbly.

Now add the sweet potato flour, bread flour, and instant mashed potatoes to the water/sugar/yeast mixture. Knead this mixture until it has a smooth consistency and the dough is elastic. You can do this by hand, or use a bread hook and mixing stand.

Add the salt and extra virgin olive oil and continue to knead until they are both fully mixed in.

Now you need to let the dough rise so form it into a ball, lightly coat the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil, put it back into the bowl, and cover with saran wrap. Leave it at room temperature until the size doubles, about 60 minutes.

Turn your oven to 350F and allow it to come to temperature while the dough ball is rising. This is also a good time to line your baking sheet with parchment paper.

Once the dough ball has doubled in size, hand knead it briefly, and then cut it into 60 pieces. Gently roll each piece into a ball and place it on the parchment paper. Once you have all the dough balls formed, wrap the baking sheet and dough balls in saran wrap, and set them aside for 1/2 an hour until the dough balls themselves double in size.

Now that the dough balls have doubled in size, you can remove the saran wrap, and bake for 25 minutes in your 350F oven.

Once the buns are nicely brown, take them out of the oven, remove them from the baking sheet, and set them on a cooling rack.

Makes 60 buns.

Note you can cut this recipe in 1/2 if you want fewer buns. Or keep the ingredients the same, and cut into larger pieces to make fewer, but larger buns.

• 3/4 cup sweet potato flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups water, room temperature

Mix the water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Allow it to sit, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes as the yeast eats the sugar and the mixture becomes bubbly.

Now add the sweet potato flour and bread flour to the water/sugar/yeast mixture. Knead this mixture until it has a smooth consistency and the dough is elastic. It should be a bit sticky to the touch, that is OK. You can do this by hand, or use a bread hook and mixing stand.

Add the salt and butter and continue to knead until they are both fully mixed in.

Now you need to let the dough rise so form it into a ball, lightly coat the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil, put it back into the bowl, and cover with saran wrap. Leave it at room temperature until the size doubles, about 60 minutes.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, form it into a ball again, lightly coat the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil, put it back into the bowl, and cover with saran wrap. Leave it at room temperature until the size doubles, about 45 minutes.

Turn your oven to 350F and allow it to come to temperature while the dough ball is rising. This is also a good time to line your baking sheet with parchment paper or coat the surface of the baking sheet with dusting of corn meal. If you have a bread pan, you can use it instead.

Once the dough ball has doubled in size, hand knead it briefly on a lightly floured surface, and then form it into your preferred bread shape, or place it into your bread pan. Wrap the baking sheet and dough in saran wrap, and set them aside for 1/2 an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Now that the dough has doubled in size, you can remove the saran wrap, and bake for 45 minutes in your 350F oven.

Once the bread is nicely brown, take it out of the oven, remove them from the baking sheet, and set it on a cooling rack. Slice only once it is cool to the touch.

• 1/2 of a white or yellow onion, diced
• 3 coarsely chopped garlic cloves
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano, Mexican oregano if you can find it
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

In a small skillet over medium heat, add the extra virgin olive oil, and sautee the onions and garlic until they are slightly browned.

Add the can of tomatoes with the juice, the oregano, sugar, and sea salt.

Using a hand held blender, process the sauce until smooth. You could also transfer the sauce to your food processor or blender if you don't have a hand held blender.

Cook over low heat while you are preparing the chiles. Taste and adjust seasoning to fit your personal taste preferences.

• 1 package Organic Aji Amarillo Chiles
• 4 ounces queso fresco, Monterey Jack cheese, or chevre, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 Tablespoons Organic Purple Corn or Sweet Potato Flour
• 1 egg, separate the yolk from the white. Keep both.
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
• a dozen wooden toothpicks
• 2 Tablespoons salted, roasted pumpkin seeds

Soak the Organic Aji Amarillo Chile Pods in hot water for 30 minutes.

Once the chiles are softened, gently cut a slit into one side of the chile, keeping the stem end intact. This creates a pocket to stuff things into.

Gently scrape out the seeds and veins from inside the chile.

Gently, being careful not to over stuff, stuff the cheese into the chile.

Pinch the chiles closed and secure them with toothpicks.

On a medium flat plate spread the flour out in an even layer.

Roll each chile in the flour.

In a medium sized bowl beat the egg white thoroughly.

Fold the egg yolk, and 1 Tablespoon of the remaining flour into the beaten egg whites.

In a large, deep skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat.

Now is the time to turn the heat on the sauce up to medium.

Dip each chile into the egg batter, gently lower into the skillet, and fry until golden brown. Turn once to cook both sides.

To serve take the hot sauce and put a few tablespoons onto your plate. Place the chiles on top of the pool of sauce, pour some sauce on top of each chile, and garnish with the pumpkin seeds.

Serve hot.

Ingredients: 100% sweet potato flour

1 pound box