And so it begins - sweet potatoes and rain.

Glasgow is a strange place. Yesterday I got to work totally drenched, trailing puddles of water behind me. Today I had to shove my hoodie into my backpack, finally enjoying warm sun. It was as perfect day as it gets - lazy, sunny and full of good food.
It's one of those things I love about the city - you can find wee shops and cafes that turn out to be a true chest of wonders. One of those places is The North Star, just a small walk up from the Botanical Gardens, on Queen Margaret's Drive.
The place itself is tiny, six tables are a hard squeeze but noone seems to mind. Don't bother asking for a menu - it's written all over the place, literally. Long list of sandwiches and coffees adorns the wall above the oh-so-tempting cake stands and you can't help but glance at them, unable to decide which one looks more delicious.

I can vouch for the orange and polenta cake - it was all I've ever hoped of it to be: moist, full of flavour and slightly crunchy on the edges.


As for myself - I always look for new flavours, things to try, to experiment. Like sweet potatoes. I've never tried them before moving to the UK. I only remember them as one of those things that would show up in big supermarkets, exotic, overpriced, noone had any idea what to do with them, noone would buy them and so soon they'd disappear.
I don't remember what was the first sweet potato dish I've eaten - wedges? soup? but I could remember that sweet moistness, delicate texture, almost silky. I had fallen in love right there and then and now I have a list of things I want to cook using them, today's choice came from this blog. Another happy chance that I've just stumbled upon. I have slightly modified the recipe to suit my taste better :


Baked sweet potatoes with goat's cheese and roasted red grapes

2 small to medium sweet poatatoes
60g soft goat's cheese
1 cup red seedless grapes
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnammon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of sweet paprika
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp maple syrup + extra for drizzling
a drizzle of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Poke holes in the sweet potatoes using a fork or a metal skewer and wrap them in tin foil. Bake them in the middle of the oven for 1h-1,5h (original recipe calls for 45-1h but I've found out that's way too short, leaving the potatoes too crunchy to be mashed properly), until tender to touch.
Take out of the oven, slit through the middle and leave to cool enough to handle. Scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
Turn the heat to 200. Prepare the grapes - lightly drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, toss to coat evenly. Pop them into the oven for around 25mins till they start bursting.
In the meantime prepare the potato mash - add cinnamon, nutmeg, 50g of goat's cheese, honey, syrup and paprika to the bowl and mash everything with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste, more paprika if you fancy.
Scoop the mash back into potato skins and pop into the oven for the last 5 mins of roasting the grapes to re-heat. (I've put them at the bottom of the oven in a baking tin lined with some tin foil, made the skin go slightly crispy at the bottom, without burning it).
Take out of the oven, scatter with the remaining goat's cheese and roasted grapes, serve drizzled with extra maple syrup.

I think the honey makes it all a bit too sweet, slightly smoky and burnt taste you get from maple syrup accompanies the potatoes better.