The Hot Box - Ricotta, Stewed Sweet Potatoes and Hot Honey Grilled Cheese

If I could sum winter up in 1 word, it would be NEGLECT. For reals. I mean when it's like 2 degrees out, what else are you supposed to do besides eat rich food and lay around? It's too cold to walk anywhere, your friends won't leave the house, and relying on whiskey to keep you warm isn't the best idea after 5 months of solitude. But I'm not here to bitch about the winter because who the hell cares - It's in the 50's today! FINALLY warm out today! Can you believe it?! I'm crying I'm so happy... I truly never thought this day would come.

The sun showing its pretty face is also a reminder that I seriously need to TCOB. My poor dogs long-ass nails, the giant pile of laundry that stares at me every time I enter my room, and of course, the extra 10 pounds of fat insulation that I've developed need to be handled.

After I finish this post, I'm going to walk skip to the groomer to get little Pippy's nails clipped so that we can both prance around on the snow-free streets of Brooklyn. I'm also going to buy him real dog food because hey, he can't eat scrambled eggs forever, OK? Then I'm going to carry my stupid laundry to the place but will probably just drop it off. Let's be real, I don't want to waste this beautiful day in the nasty-ass Laundromat. After that, I'll head into the East Village to meet up with my ramen friend to get lifted and talk about food ideas while walking around in the sun... all while drinking 1,000 ice coffees from Momofuku's Milk Bar. Then I'll probably eat a salad and do like 2 hours of Wii-Dance to help my bathing suit body out a little. Gotta start somewhere, right?

This post has taken me like 4 hours to write because I keep glancing outside and getting stuck in a daydream. I'm even more giddy than that time I saw Bill Hader outside a Magnetic Fields concert and smoked a cigarette, which I never do, just so that he could light it for me and I could gaze into his eyes. Sorry Mom, I had to. Oh, anyways enough blabbing, let's get this sandwich post started so I can venture outside and become a real girl!

Ingredients

- Salvatore Smoked Ricotta
- Stewed Sweet Potatoes
(Sage, onions, red pepper flakes, butter, salt)
- Hot Honey
(A&B Pepper Sauce + Tupelo Honey)
- Sage Butter (I recommend using Kriemhild)
- Multigrain Bread

So let's start off by talking about my new fav thing ever -  smoked ricotta. I didn't even know this was possible until the awesome babes at Salvatore BKLYN started making it. It's sweet, creamy, rich, and of course SMOKED! Even Martha Stewart said "It's my favorite ricotta in the whole world". I'm not joking... It's that good!

Oh, as for directions, smear on a bunch. That's it. No salt, lemon, or olive oil necessary. It truly doesn't need anything because it's fucking perfect.

OK, next step. Now it's time to add some hot honey. You could totally buy some but it's so easy to make since it only has 2 ingredients and takes like 2 seconds to concoct.

I opt for A&B pepper sauce. It's got the perfect balance of heat and vinegar-iness that I look for when I'm making hot honey. And since I'm from the South, you know i only use Tupelo. Basically you'll just mix a little bit of hot sauce into honey and then taste it and adjust to your liking. But if you want proportions, I'd say 3 parts honey to 1 part hot sauce.

Once it's made, drizzle it on your ricotta and then lick the bowl.

Now it's time for the stewed sweet potatoes.

I love making this side dish during winter. Basically I just start sauteing chopped onions in butter, sage, and red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, and salt. Then I add chopped sweet potatoes, a little bit of red wine vinegar and water and cover it. I then cook it down, stirring occasionally until they're cooked through. You can totes add more vinegar, sugar, or salt until it tastes awesome.

After you have that, just pile some on top and get ready for the next step.

Now smear some more ricotta on the other side of the bread and place it on top.

Now butter it really good and place 2 sage leaves on each side. Turn your burner to medium and add your sandwich. Let it cook for a few minutes until it's all golden, brown, and toasty on each side.

Once it's beautiful and irresistible, remove it from the heat and let it set for a sec.

Now everybody say this out loud "Bye Bye seasonal affect disorder!" Now come play outside with me today!

xoxo,

GCS