# Savory Sweet Potato Dish



## lyndalou (Nov 15, 2004)

I have been asked to bring a sweet potato dish to a friend's home for Thanksgiving.  There will be 22 of us for dinner, and the host specifically requested a dish that does not include pecans, brown sugar, marshmallows, etc.  Does anyone out there have a recipe?

I could also bring a savory squash dish, if noone can help me with the above.
Thanks for your help.


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## mudbug (Nov 15, 2004)

Make simple roasted sweet potatoes.  They are extremely good.  All you have to do is peel and wedge appropriate amount of potatoes - for 22 people I would probably do about 8 - 10 large ones.  Oil 'em up generously and roast at 400 degrees or so for about an hour.  Check them every once in awhile to make sure they are not sticking to the pan. 

Reheat covered with foil at your friend's house.


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## Raine (Nov 15, 2004)

Crisp and Savoury Sweet Potato Tartlets
Make these tarts in mini muffin tins and they're a tasty bite to accompany a pre-dinner drink. Use a larger 4 inch tart pan and they make a delicious Fall side dish. 
The crispy pastry puffs up quite a bit so be sure to roll it out as thinly as you possibly can. Make sure you take the pastry resting time (an hour or overnight) into account. 


Crisp and Savoury Sweet Potato Tartlets

Yield: Makes 18 mini-tarts

Ingredients:

For Crispy Pastry:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1/3 lb butter, cut into small pieces
Cold water (see directions for amount, which varies)

For Savoury Sweet Potato Filling:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
½ cup sour cream.
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chili paste, optional
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste
Thyme and sage leaves for garnish, if desired.

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour salt and sugar and pulse a couple of times to mix and fluff.
2. Add half the butter pieces and process until well combined, then add the rest of the butter pulsing until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. 
3. With the motor running drizzle the cold water into the flour and butter mixture a little bit at a time just until it starts to come together as a dough.
4. Dump the pastry dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly with your hands until it's just barely a consistent mass.
5. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or preferably overnight.
6. When ready to continue, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
7. Simmer the sweet potatoes in lightly salted water until soft but not mushy. Drain and let cool.
8. Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and place on lightly floured secure surface. Using the edge of a rolling pin, smack the dough a few times to flatten it. Rotate the disk 90 degrees and smack again. Flip turn and smack, repeating until the dough is thin and compliant enough to roll. 
9. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible and cut out circles about 30 percent larger than the muffin tins (or tart pans). Line the muffin tins with the pastry rounds, prick the dough with a fork, line with baking paper and fill with baking weights or rice to inhibit puffing.
10. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes, then remove the weights and continue to bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove the shells from the oven and let cool.
11. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooled sweet potatoes with the sour cream, eggs, sage, thyme, chili paste (if using), honey, cumin and salt and pepper. Process until smooth and batter-like.
12. Fill the pastry shells three quarters full with the filling and top each with the sage and thyme leaves.
13. Bake in 400º F oven until pastry is golden and the filling is set, about 20 to 25 minutes.


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## Raine (Nov 15, 2004)

Two Potato Casserole
When cooking for two, prepare the full recipe, refrigerate the leftovers, and reheat in the oven. 

Ingredients 
Nonstick cooking spray 
1 cup apple cider 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 
1 tablespoon unsalted margarine 
2 medium-size sweet potatoes (about 2/3 pound), peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick 
2 medium-size baking potatoes (about 3/4 pound), peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick 
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F Coat a 1-quart ovenproof glass casserole, and a sheet of aluminum foil just large enough to cover it, with the cooking spray; set aside.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the apple cider, salt, pepper, and cloves to a boil; cook, uncovered, until the cider has boiled down to 1/2 cup-about 5 minutes; set aside. 

3. Melt the margarine in another small saucepan. On the bottom of the casserole, arrange a single layer of the sweet potatoes, drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon of the melted margarine, and spoon 1'h tablespoons of the cider over them. 

4. Cover the sweet potato layer with a layer of the baking potatoes. With your hands, press the potato layers firmly together. Continue to build and compress 5 more layers of the potatoes, margarine, and cider in the same fashion. 

5. Place the foil directly on top of the potatoes, then place a weight, such as a heavy lid, on the foil. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Transfer to the floor of the oven and cook for 5 minutes or until the bottom layer of potatoes is crusty and browned. 

6. Cool the casserole upright on a wire rack for 3 minutes; with a spatula, gently loosen the potatoes around the edges and invert onto a heated serving platter. 

Servings
Serves 4


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## Raine (Nov 15, 2004)

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients 
6 medium sweet potatoes 
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 
1 sprigs of fresh thyme 
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 
Instructions
1. Freshly grated nutmeg to taste 

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

3. Cook the sweet potatoes for 20 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain. 

4. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet in the oven and roast them until they are very tender. 

5. Halve the potatoes, scoop out the flesh, and mash with a fork. 

6. Melt the butter with the divine in a small saucepan. 

7. Remove the thyme sprigs and reserve. 

8. Stir the melted butter into the mashed potatoes and season with salt and pepper and nutmeg. 

9. Garnish with the thyme sprigs.

Servings
Makes 6 Servings


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## Raine (Nov 15, 2004)

SCALLOPED SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

6 medium sweet potatoes2 medium onions2 tablespoons salad oilsalt2 tablespoons butter2 tablespoons all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon ground ginger1/4 teaspoon pepper2 cups milk2 tablespoons chopped parsley
In 5-quart saucepot over high heat, heat unpeeled sweet potatoes and enough water to over to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until sweet potatoes are just fork-tender but not soft, about 20 minutes; drain. Cool sweet potatoes until easy to handle.

Meanwhile, slice onions 1/4 inch thick. In 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, in hot salad oil, cook onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt until tender, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease 13" by 9" baking dish. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. In bottom of baking dish, arrange one-third of sweet potatoes; sprinkle with half of onions. Place half of remaining sweet potatoes over onion layer, then top with remaining onions.

Arrange remaining sweet potatoes over onions.

In 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter; stir in flour, ginger, pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt until blended; cook 1 minute.

Gradually stir in milk; cook, stirring constantly, until sauce boils and thickens slightly.

Pour sauce over potatoes in baking dish; sprinkle with parsley. Bake 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and mixture is heated through. If you like, broil 1 minute to brown top of potatoes slightly. Makes 6 accompaniment servings.

Serving Size: 6


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## Raine (Nov 15, 2004)

BAKED APPLES AND SWEET POTATOES

1 lg. can sweet potatoes1 c. liquid from sweet potatoes, may need to add water1/2 c. butter1/2 c. sugar2 tbsp. cornstarch4 to 5 med. apples
Combine liquid, butter, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and bring to a boil until thick and smooth.

Arrange pared and quartered apples and sweet potatoes in 9x9 inch pan. Pour sauce over apples and potatoes, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.


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## Konditor (Nov 15, 2004)

Many cooks work under a cloud of bafflement re the distinction between sweet potatoes & yams.  Are the two vegetables really the same thing? If not, how do they differ? I think the vegetable we most commonly find in supermarkets are sweet potatoes – but sometimes they may be yams!  The two look alike, and even to a certain extent, taste similar; but they both belong to different plant families:  The yam is a member of _Dioscoreaceae_; whereas the sweet potato is of the family _Convolvulaceas_.  The latter plant was discovered by Columbus when Caribbean natives offered him gifts of an edible root which he called yams – though, in fact, the yam came from Africa and did not reach the Americas until it was carried thither by slaves a couple of centuries later.

Food authority Waverly Root wrote that only the primitive Papuans of New Guinea seem able to make a clear distinction between sweet potatoes & yams.  Reportedly, they know that the sweet potato is a tuber-producing plant cultivated by women, while the yam is a tuber-producing plant cultivated by tribesmen!  However, it is accurate to indicate that our common market “yams” are identical to the moist-fleshed sweet potatoes as distinguished from the less-sweet, dry-fleshed ones. Both types vary in shape from round to elongated. Whatever the family of the tubers available in our markets, they can be used more-or-less interchangably in many delicious preparations, including these two festive dishes:

*Sweet Potatoes & Cranberries*

6 sweet potatoes; 1 cup cranberry sauce; ¾ cup fresh orange juice; ½ cup brown sugar; zest of ½ orange; ¾ tsp cinnamon; ¾ oz. butter; 1 cup fresh cranberries; ¼ tsp grated nutmeg.

Boil sweet potatoes in their skins until just tender.  Peel, slice thickly, and arrange in a buttered baking dish.  In saucepan, mix remaining ingredients.  Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.  Pour over sweet potatoes and bake uncovered at 350° for 20 minutes, or until glazed & hot.

*Sweet Potatoes & Ham*

4 large sweet potatoes
1 oz. butter
½ cup light-brown sugar, packed
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground allspice
½ lb. cooked ham
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 oz. butter, in bits

Boil sweet potatoes until they can just be pierced with a fork; cool slightly.  When cool enough to handle, peel and slice lengthwise into ½" pieces.  Cut ham into slices about as large as the sweet-potato pieces.  Melt butter and pour into shallow 2-quart baking dish.  Stir in ¼ cup brown sugar. Place sweet potatoes & ham in dish, alternating rows, turning sweet potatoes to coat with butter. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar, and spices.  Pour juice all over.  Distribute bits of butter over top. Bake at 325° for 45 minutes, or until top is brown, basting with juice if necessary.  Yield: 8 servings.


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## lyndalou (Nov 15, 2004)

Thank you all. You gave me some great ideas.


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## Zereh (Nov 16, 2004)

*Roasted Sweet & White Potatoes with Hazelnuts*

Here's one that you could easily double or triple to feed the masses:

Rinse and peel 3-lbs sweet potatoes and 3-lbs russet potatoes. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Put into a 2-inch deep, 12- x 17-inch pan. Add 6 peeled gloves of garlic and 1/4 c butter, melted or olive oil. (I use olive oil).

Bake in 475F oven for 45 minutes. Turn vegetables every 15-20 minutes. Stir in 3/4 c coursely chopped hazlenuts.

Continue to bake potatoes until very tender when pierced and edges are well browned, about 20 minutes more. Stir in 2 T melted butter. Add salt to taste.


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## beaulana2 (Nov 17, 2004)

Sweet potato Casserole
3 cups cooked mashed sweet potatos
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup milk

Topping
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine sweet potatos,sugar,eggs,vanilla,milk and the butter. Beat until smooth. Spoon into a greased 2 quart shallow casserole dish. Combine the topping ingriedients and sprinkle over the potatos bake at 350 for 30 minutes
serves 8 to 10


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## beaulana2 (Nov 17, 2004)

oops did not read properly about no pecans, sorry about that


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