Sweet Potatoes/Yams
I like them baked, and add a pat of butter and s&p. I'm really not all that crazy about sweet casseroles with nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, nuts, marshmallows. Give me some of that in a sweet potato pie for dessert - that's a whole different ballgame. I also like them mashed with turnips or rutabegas, and just recently tried them mashed with bananas. I love sweet potato fries!! I eat sweet potatoes/yams year round, and feel like I'm eating healthy. Do you like them as well? What are you favorite ways to eat them?
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26 Comments:
Roasted a bit in the toaster oven in foil until they are fluffy and creamy inside and you can peel the skin away like paper.
Candied with butter and brown sugar into a tooth-rotting, filling-sticking treat.
Chopped into big cubes and added to either rice porridge or steamed with the evening's pot of rice.
Also, as fries with a crisp, rich crust made from salted duck yolks. Tastiest heart attack ever.
fuuchan at 5:05PM on 03/13/08
Oh PerkyMac, now you've got me craving! I am not a fan of the regular potato, but I haven't met a sweet potato I didn't like. Love the pie (I make mine with a nutty streusel topping), love them chopped and roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little rosemary, love the fries, love them mashed with plantains and a bit of maple syrup. Also love to make a version of shepherd's pie with ground lamb and lots of chopped veggies, topped with mashed sweet potatoes and baked.
CookiePie at 5:24PM on 03/13/08
@PerkyMac........ I have never been a fan of the sugary, marshmallow sweet potato casseroles. I make mine with sauteed sage and shallots, butter and sour cream and top them with spicy pecans and a little finely chopped sage. I think we will add that to Easter dinner!
crazyspice at 5:40PM on 03/13/08
going with CookiePie on this one being roasted.... except I like whole cloves of garlic thrown in and some thyme. You could also do a gratin with them.
Pavlov at 5:43PM on 03/13/08
I never could understand the difference between a sweet potato and a yam. Can someone explain it?
SavtaShayna at 5:48PM on 03/13/08
The sweet potato is different from a yam in that yams are from central and south america typically, and are roughly as long as your arm. What is mostly marketed in the U.S. as a yam is actually a sweet potato from Louisianna. The growers of sweet potatoes in La. wanted to make their product different from others so they call them yams. It's all about marketing.
hope that helps
Pavlov at 5:55PM on 03/13/08
I'm liking what I see - new ways to enjoy! I just realized I misspelled rutabaga. Don'tchajusthate when that happens???
@savta........in this country, those terms are pretty much interchangeable. I think of a sweet potato as orange flesh and yam as yellow flesh, but they taste the same.
PerkyMac at 6:00PM on 03/13/08
I love sweet potato pie. On occasion, I enjoy sweet potato fries served at one of the dining rooms at work. Most of all, I enjoy sweet potatoes as is - cooked with nothing added.
Cassaendra at 6:24PM on 03/13/08
Lately, I've been on a black bean & sweet potato kick. The combination is wonderful. I peel, dice and bake the sweet potato, then combine with black beans, diced tomatoes, chili seasonings, onion and garlic for a wonderful enchilada filling :)
elizabeth786 at 6:30PM on 03/13/08
Love sweet potatoes! Don't know why I don't have them at home more often.
If we are eating out and sweet potatoes are offerred--I always get them. If it's baked, I like them plain, no butter, no sugar, no cinnamon, they are sweet, flavorful and moist enough on their own. Plus I don't want dessert with my steak or ribs or whatever entree.
Sweet potato chips--yummmmmmmm.
Sweet potato fries--can be very good, I've had some really bad attempts, too.
Sweet potato pie--so good...man, I want a slice of pie, right now!
wookie at 7:27PM on 03/13/08
After having Okinawan purple sweet potatoes at Jar in Los Angeles, baked and served with a dollop of creme fraiche and chives, it has become my absolute favorite way to eat them. The potato's natural sweetness and creaminess of the creme fraiche make it sublime!
dimsumlikeithot at 9:01PM on 03/13/08
Butter and hot sauce! The sweet and spicy create something greater than the sum of their parts. Oh, and salt, too, of course.
Barbara Hanson at 10:02PM on 03/13/08
Mmm, sweet potatoes. My favorite is sliced then roasted until deeply browned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sometimes I will add cumin, ground chile, and garlic powder. I also love sweet potato fries, dipped in ketchup or flavored mayo. And baked. Not so much mashed. Sweet potato soup is good too.
wellred at 10:29PM on 03/13/08
How about sweet potato stew? I've never seen it outside of my hometown of Vacherie and the surrounding little towns in South La. My mom and grandma cooked it a lot.
The stew consists of sweet potatoes cooked down with chicken stock or water, green onions, onions, garlic, and spices (cayenne, Creole seasoning, thyme, etc.) and served over (you guessed it) rice. No cinnamon, of course.
The closest thing I have seen to this is a sweet potato stew with peanuts. I believe it's African.
GumbeauxGal at 11:25PM on 03/13/08
@ GumbeauxGal... I had seen something similar to that in St. Thomas USVI sans the rice. As I recall it may have also been combined with fried plantains.... holy cow... talk about stick to your ribs.... thighs....stomach....etc!
Pavlov at 1:23AM on 03/14/08
Dice them up into a cast iron pan. Dribble canola oil over them liberally and hand-mix in a large handful of fresh diced garlic. Maybe dust them with a little Old Bay seasoning and bake them until kinda crusty.
Yum yum.
Nursie at 1:42AM on 03/14/08
@dimsumlikeithot
Okinawan sweet potatoes, oh man, I eat those babies like candy...yes. I eat potatoes. Like candy. Whole ones. They're that good.
They need nothing but a little baking.
fuuchan at 3:04AM on 03/14/08
Alton Brown has a killer sweet potato waffle recipe. Also you could always make my favorite, sweet potato pie!
schwartz at 8:37AM on 03/14/08
I can eat a baked sweet potato out of hand like candy, no butter nothing added! It would not bother me if I could never eat another white potato but I definitely need my sweets.
I love sweet potatoes in nearly every incarnation except that casserole with the marshmallows on top. On a less sweet note, I do like the souffle which includes vanilla and some sugar but I don't add as much as called for in most recipes.
Next time you're grilling, try my grilled sweets.
Slice scrubbed sweet potatoes vertically about 1/4" thick.
Make a baste of 1 part real maple syrup to 3 parts corn or canola oil (not olive oil), plus S&P and a little cinnamon if you like.
Grill sweets dry over medium heat 2-3 minutes on each side. They will appear lighter in color. Brush with the baste and flip the sweets, cook another minute on each side. Be careful as the maple syrup in the baste can cause scorching. The sweets will appear deeper orange in color and a knife tip inserted should penetrate easily. If your slices are thick, you will need to cook the sweets longer when they are dry.
Whenever I do grilled veggie platters, the sweets are the first to go.
chiff0nade at 8:41AM on 03/14/08
@chiff0nade.... Love the grilled sweet potatoes! I grill all my other veggies, (and many fruits) but never the sweet potatoes. I am grilling tomorrow night. I am definitely added this to the menu! My grill is gas. Is yours gas or charcoal?
crazyspice at 9:05AM on 03/14/08
I love sweet potatoes in all its varieties - here in the Caribbean we have two main varieties, the one with the orange flesh (batata mameya) and one with white flesh and reddish exterior (batata blanca or boniato, as Cubans call it).
The orangy flesh one is best to mash into casseroles, roasted and for flans. I also have mashed it together with cranberry preserves for Thanksgiving dinner.
The one with white flesh is definietly sweeter and we eat it here fried, like in thick cut chips or baked in the oven. We do kabobs with pieces of baked sweet potato and other veggies.
Madelyn
KarmaFree Cooking
MadelynRodriguez at 11:50AM on 03/14/08
I don't like sweet potato pies or casseroles, but I absolutely love them oven roasted, with olive oil, salt and black pepper. I either drizzle some balsamic reduction over them or serve them with good balsamic vinegar on the side, and it's pure heaven! Lately, we've been eating them at least once a week, if not more often. I also love what we call "Thanksgiving Mash" - equal amounts of sweet and regular potatoes, mashed with roasted garlic (and butter:-)), but this is one of those "several times a year" dishes.
brooke29 at 1:44PM on 03/14/08
@Pavlov - that is rather interesting. I will say that the stew is rather yummy, but seems to turn most people off because it sounds weird. I've never been to St. Thomas, but if I go, I've got to seek out some of their stew with the plaintains. (I LOVE plantains!)
The La. version of the stew with rice is definitely stick-to-ribs-n-thighs!
It's carb on carb!!! :)
GumbeauxGal at 2:43PM on 03/14/08
@crazyspice - I've done them on both types of grills. Gas grills give less of a smoky flavor than charcoal grills but they come out great on both.
My strongest advice would be - watch for scorching once the baste has been applied. Don't slice them too thin and don't try to cook them too fast.
One more thing...I found when I use a regular shaped chef's knife, the blade wants to slice at an angle. If you can slice your sweets with a santoku shaped blade, you will get a nice even slice all the way down. You must come back and report!! :D :D :D
chiff0nade at 5:27PM on 03/14/08
@chiff...I have a smoker unit in my gas grill. I always use a santoku. Once I got turned onto them I have several and.....need I say more? I went to the market this afternoon and came home with the sweets! I was thinking of slicing them on my mandolin????
crazyspice at 6:26PM on 03/14/08
PerkyMac - I do so love sweet potatoes in practically every form except candied with marshmallows.
Current faves:
Mashed w/butter, and a touch of pineapple juice, bourbon and maple syrup
Wedged and roasted w/cumin and salt, finished w/fresh lime juice and cilantro
Tempura
Sweet potato tempura maki rolls w/spicy mustard
Chickpea and sweet potato curry stew
Sweet potato pie, which I much prefer to pumpkin
@elizabeth, your black bean and sweet potato sounds awesome. I've definitely got to try that.
chisai at 1:20PM on 03/15/08