I am quite fond of sweet potatoes, especially the purple ones. They are less sweet than their orange family members, with a delicious flavor. Like all sweet potatoes they are not part of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) but belong to the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae). My favorite one is the Stokes Sweet Purple Potato, particularly for this recipe. They got their name because they were first grown in the Stokes County in North Carolina. In California organic ones can be found in many stores. Their purple color indicate a high content of flavonoids known as anthocyanin which is a powerful antioxidant also found in blueberries, acai berries, black currents, or red cabbage.
Freshly baked these potato dollars are crisp outside and soft inside. Their taste and the sugary smell when they just come out of the oven remind me of cookies! Yummy and nutritious cookies, though! The next day they are more moist. To make them crispy again they can be toasted. We often have them for breakfast, together with raw cultured butter.
Why organic raw cultured butter? Butter from grass fed cows is a very important source of fat soluble vitamins such as true vitamin A (retinol), Vitamin D, and K as well as trace minerals like manganese, zinc, chromium and iodine, especially when the cows feed on green grass. Weston A. Price writes about this in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration where he emphasizes that adding green pasturage yields in higher amounts of these fat soluble vitamins.
Butter from grass-fed cows has a good amount of CLA(Conjugated Linoleic Acid) which has strong anticancer properties. Other fats in butter are lauric acid which is a medium chain fatty acid and known to be antimicrobial and antifungal, otherwise only found in coconut oil, as well as butyric acid (a short chain fatty acid) which has antifungal properties as well as antitumor effects. Additionally, butter has small but nearly equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.
Pesticides and other environmental poisons can accumulate in fat, so it is important to look for butter from organic or pasture-raised cows as pasture is usually not sprayed.
Cultured butter is made from fermented, or soured, cream by adding beneficial bacterial cultures which help to break down the trace amounts of lactose sugars before consumption.
Raw butter is not heated and contains active enzymes and a broad spectrum of naturally occurring beneficial bacteria which makes it easy to digest. Besides, raw butter contains the Wulzen Factor which is called the "antistiffness" factor because this substance protects from calcification of the joints and hardening of the arteries.
If you want to read more about the health benefits of butter then go to Dr. Axe's article about butter or to this article by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD.
Now, are you convinced about butter, especially raw butter? Then try this great combination of sweetness and cultured abundance, and let me know how you like it!
Guten Appetit!
Judith
The Nourishing Yogini
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Recipe for baked purple potato dollars
- purple potatoes
- coconut oil
- raw butter
Enjoy with raw cultured butter!
1. Wash your purple potatoes, especially if you don't peel them.
2. Peel if preferred and slice them.
3. Lay on parchment paper and brush with coconut oil.
4. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes at 375 °F.
5. Let cool down a bit, or completely, and enjoy with raw butter!
