Smoked Mashed Potatoes & Ribs

In case you haven't noticed, i only post now when something REALLY gets me fired up, and this recipe is a good example. Smoked mashed sweet potatoes are SO good, you want to roll in them.  Granted, it's a little work, but this is not a dish you find anywhere.  Sadly, I didn't think of it.  I had them a few months ago at a restaurant in Boulder called Boulder Cork.  I think this place has been around since the earth was flat, and the patrons look it (they know a good meal by now).  The food is awesome. I had the waitress ask the cook how they achieved the smoky flavor and it's been on my to-do list every since. It's easy yet AMAZING.  But first, THE CROSSFIT OPEN IS HERE - WOOOOOHOOOOO!! When I left the Games last year, all i could think was "I have to get back".  That 7 months passed pretty fast.  I made massive changes, i'm free of injury, I feel good. Life is good.  How about you? Is your nutrition dialed? Are you strategizing? Are you not leaving a single extra second on the table? In case you didn't notice, the pool seems to ~double every year in this sport.  You need to get stronger, smarter, tougher.  By now you're as strong as you're going to get, but you can still get smarter and tougher.  Analyze the hell  out of each work-out and eat gunpowder for breakfast because this is it buddy. At the end of the week, relax a little, eat well, and enjoy the ride because this just comes around once per year and even though i dread the stress, it's damn fun.

Now for the "recipe".  Excuse the format - don't need a list of ingredients.  Everyone knows how to make mashed potatoes.  However, you will need a smoker.  If you don't have one, get off your lazy arse and get one.  I had one and then found out some mice turned it into a condo, even brought in their own bedding, but never changed it.  So i chucked it and got a new electric one from home depot for ~$80.  It will smoke chickens, ribs, whatever - I'm gonna start using it. So you need one of those and some wood chips - i bought apple. Now make up your mashed potatoes a good hour before you need them. I prefer WHITE  sweet potatoes since they're on the mild side and look more like regular potatoes.  Peel, chunk and boil in water until soft.  Drain the water (of course) and add spices - we like smoked paprika, celery salt, and pepper.  Add butter and sour cream if you do the dairy thing (who doesn't these days?), or not if you're a fanatic (i pity you).  Plug in that smoker and throw your chips in (that you soaked in water for 30 min).  Now simply take your pot of mashed potatoes, w/out the cover, and place in the smoker (warning: not your best pot - it will look a little "smoky" afterwards). I smoked mine for a solid 45 minutes and added more chips halfway thru.  Every 15 minutes, give them a stir. Then bring them inside, cover, and keep warm until the rest of the food is ready.  We combined these with pork ribs, which i've posted before (super easy - dry rub and bbq for about 10-15 min per side) and broccolini with dried mushrooms which we reconstituted (these are better than fresh - more flavorful).  You will be shocked at how fantastic these potatoes taste.  It's like going back in time 1,000 yrs and being served sweet potatoes cooked over an open fire. Exquisite, really.

LASTLY - I want to bring some attention to FitAID.  A few months ago I was looking for something to aid my maintenance and recovery.  I found FitAID thru another masters athlete (12th in the world after 13.2).  I love this stuff because it has supplements that have already proven themselves to me (glutamine and glucosamine to name just a few), is all natural, carbonated, and just mildly sweet. In short, this is a top shelf sports drink loaded with supplements.  If you want to give it a try, FitAID made a special coupon code for me to share "paleosteve" which will get you FREE shipping. They are helping to support my quest to get back to the Games.  Please support them if you're in the market for a really top quality sports drink.

Eat Well!   Steve "Paleo"