Forget the marshmallows! Not-so-sweet sweet potato recipes
Am I the only Southerner who’s sworn off mashed sweet potatoes as sweet as dulce de leche? Who denies marshmallow-y “sweets” a spot on the Thanksgiving table?
Don’t get me wrong. I love sweet potatoes, I just don’t love candied sweet potatoes masquerading as a side.
Having at long last tamed my sweet tooth – not easy for a Tar Heel weaned on sweet potatoes – I now focus on recipes that enhance their delicate nutty flavor instead of deep-sixing it in brown sugar, canned crushed pineapple and mini marshmallows.
In truth, sweet potatoes are not very sweet. What’s more, they’re not even potatoes; they’re members – would you believe? – of the morning glory family. And though we persist in calling sweet potatoes yams, the two aren’t remotely related.
Of the 600 species of yams, the most familiar is the mealy white Guinea yam that arrived in South America aboard slave ships. But the original yam, some say, is Dioscorea alata. Wholly unlike the New World sweet potatoes Columbus carried back to Spain, it’s a purple tuber indigenous to Southeast Asia that’s as big as a watermelon, that’s integral to a variety of Asian desserts, and that’s been used for 2,000 years to treat everything from leprosy to tropical fevers.
Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, were widely grown in Spain soon after Columbus’s return and exported to England as “golden Spanish potatoes.” Yet it took 200 years for Europe’s elite to accept Irish (actually Andean) potatoes as anything other than a curiosity (Marie Antoinette wore purple potato blossoms in her hair). And longer still for Irish potatoes to become a North American staple.
Henry VIII, it’s said, liked sweet potatoes mashed, sweetened and baked into pies. And Martinique-born Empress Josephine, longing for the sweet potatoes of home, had them planted at Malmaison, her chateau just west of Paris.
Available around the calendar, sweet potatoes are cheap, versatile, vitamin-and-mineral-rich. Compare one cup unseasoned mashed sweet potato with the same of Irish and you’ll discover that the sweet potato contains more than five times the amount of calcium, nearly twice the vitamin C, and 2,180 times the potential vitamin A.
Add to that a mother lode of phytochemicals believed to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease and it’s easy to understand why these 24-carat spuds have catapulted into the “super food” category. When it comes to calories and carbs, sweet potatoes are a tad richer than Irish potatoes – all the more reason not to saturate them with sugar.
I like to simmer sweet potatoes into hearty soups and stews without an ounce of added sugar. To bake them, then processor-whip with roasted garlic. Even to knead them into a golden focaccia that can be served as an appetizer or a bread with a simple olive oil dip.
Do certain sweet potato varieties take to improv better than others? My own favorites are the copper-skinned Jewel and rose-skinned Beauregard – both supermarket staples, both full of flavor, both supremely adaptable.
Developed at Louisiana State University some 30 years ago, the intensely orange oval Beauregard was until recently the chef’s darling, perhaps because it’s a bit sweeter than many other sweet potato varieties and performs well whether baked, boiled or fried.
Today’s “Queen of Sweet Potatoes,” however, is North Carolina’s own Jewel (N.C., by the way, is this nation’s top producer of sweet potatoes and has been for 45 years). Jewels, an unusually versatile “yam type” (i.e. moist and soft when baked), are elongated ovals with yellowish vermilion flesh. But experienced cooks choose pointy-ended ones, convinced that these have richer flavor, deeper color, finer texture.
A frosty day is reason enough to try Caldo Dourado, my spin on Caldo Verde, Portugal’s national dish, that substitutes sweet potatoes for most of the Irish and rough-chopped collards for those “shaved” the Portuguese way into strands as fine as corn silk. Then there’s that other winter-warmer, Golden Nugget Stew with Sausage, Cannellini and Sweet Potatoes, a nourishing Tuscan-esque dish that practically cooks itself.
As for my Sweet Potato Focaccia and Garlic-Mashed Sweet Potatoes? They’re delicious any day – hot or cold, rain or shine.
Raleigh native Jean Anderson is an award-winning journalist and cookbook author. She has a nutrition/food science degree from Cornell University and is a member of The James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame. Reach her at jeanandersoncooks.com
Caldo Dourado
Dourado is the Portuguese word for “golden,” and this soup not only gets gold stars for flavor but also for its hefty complement of vitamins A and C. Note: Because Portuguese chouriço is difficult to find, I have substituted kielbasa.
10 ounces kielbasa, sliced 1/4-inch thick (see Note above)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium-sized yellow onions, moderately finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and each quarter thinly sliced
1 pound Irish potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, and each half thinly sliced
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
3/4 pound tender young collards, coarse stems and veins discarded, leaves coarsely chopped
Brown kielbasa in the oil in a soup pot over moderate heat 10 to 12 minutes and drain on paper toweling. Pour off drippings, then return 3 tablespoons to the pot.
Cook onions and garlic in the drippings 10 to 12 minutes over moderately low heat until glassy, stirring now and then. Add all the potatoes and cook 12 to 15 minutes until nicely glazed, stirring occasionally.
Add the broth, water, salt, and pepper, bring to a boil, then adjust heat so liquid barely bubbles. Cover and cook about 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft, stirring once or twice. Set the pot off-heat, then mash the potatoes right in the pot – they should be lumpy, not smooth.
Return the kielbasa to the pot, mix in the collards, cover, and cook over moderate heat about 10 minutes until collards are until tender. Stir in the final tablespoon of oil and adjust the salt and pepper.
Ladle into large heated soup plates and serve with a chewy-crusty country bread.
Yield: 8 servings
Garlic-Mashed Sweet Potatoes
What I like about this recipe is that the garlic and sweet potatoes bake in the same pan, then are puréed in a food processor. As every cook who’s tried it knows, you cannot processor-mash Irish potatoes. You get library paste. I season these sweet potatoes with a good fruity olive oil, but you may prefer butter.
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large), scrubbed and pricked with a fork
1 small head garlic
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the sweet potatoes – not touching – in a large shallow roasting pan, and bake for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice the top off the garlic exposing the individual cloves, bundle in foil, and when the potatoes have baked for a half-hour, add garlic to the pan.
Continue baking the potatoes for about 30 minutes or until you can pierce them easily with a fork. Remove from the oven and cool potatoes and garlic 15 minutes.
Halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and scoop flesh into a food processor equipped with the chopping blade. Unwrap the garlic and holding it upside-down, squeeze roasted garlic over the potatoes. Discard potato and garlic skins.
Add the oil, salt, and pepper and buzz about 30 seconds or until the potatoes are creamy, pausing once or twice to scrape the work bowl. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
Serve at once as an accompaniment to roast pork, turkey, chicken or baked ham. I also like garlic-mashed sweet potatoes with roast leg of lamb.
Yield: 6 servings
Sweet Potato Focaccia
If you have a powerful 9- to 14-cup food processor, you can turn it into a bread machine and make this Italian classic zip-quick. Note: For 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato, you’ll need about one 12-ounce potato baked until fork-tender (about 1 hour at 400 degrees). To kick-start the yeast, the potato should be very warm (105 to 115 degrees). Ditto the water.
3/4 cup firmly packed very warm baked sweet potato (see Note above)
1/3 cup very warm water
1/3 cup unsifted semolina (durum or “pasta” flour)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon raw sugar
2 1/2 to 3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Topping:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil mixed with 2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
Process the sweet potato and water about 30 seconds in a food processor until smooth. Add semolina, yeast, and sugar and pulse 4 to 5 times. Scrape the work bowl, pulse once or twice, cover, and let stand 15 minutes.
With machine running, add 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (easier if you insert a paper cone in the feed tube). Scrape the work bowl, then taking care to dodge the blade, redistribute the dough so it’s the same height all around.
With motor running, add another 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, then olive oil and salt. Process 10 seconds to form a soft, workable dough, adding a bit more flour, if necessary.
Once again, redistribute the dough and process 20 seconds. Let the dough rest 5 minutes, then process 20 seconds more. Leaving the blade in place, carefully redistribute the dough and mark the level on the outside of the work bowl.
Cover the work bowl and let the dough rise about 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Meanwhile, spritz a 15 x 10 x 1-inch jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Carefully remove chopping blade and scrape risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Quickly gather dough into a ball, then greasing your fingers lightly with the olive oil topping, pat the dough over the bottom of the pan, pulling and stretching to the corners until the pan is covered with a thin, even layer.
Cover with wax paper and let dough rise about 40 minutes or until doubled in bulk; 20 minutes before the dough has risen fully, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Again greasing your fingers with the topping, dimple the dough every 1 1/2 to 2 inches, then drizzle remaining topping evenly over all, letting it puddle in the dimples.
Bake the focaccia in the upper third of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until hollow-sounding when thumped. Cool focaccia in the pan on a wire rack 15 minutes – or if you prefer, cool to room temperature.
To serve, cut the focaccia into large squares or rectangles, then give each person a little ramekin of fruity olive oil in which to dip them.
Yield: 8 servings
Golden Nugget Stew with Sausage, Cannellini, and Sweet Potatoes
Stews are my favorite party food because they’re colorful, cook largely unattended, and taste even better if made one day and served the next.
2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
6 large garlic cloves, smashed and skins removed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh sage
4 (4-inch) sprigs fresh thyme
2 large whole bay leaves, preferably fresh
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
4 cups 1-inch cubes peeled sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 (9-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed just enough to separate
1 (1 pound, 3-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained well
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour blended with 1/2 cup chicken broth or water (thickener)
Stir-fry onions and garlic in the oil in a soup pot over moderately high heat 6 to 8 minutes until lightly browned. Add the sage, thyme, bay leaves, and sausage, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the broth, wine, and carrots, bring to a boil, adjust heat so the mixture bubbles lazily, set lid on askew, and cook about 20 minutes until the carrots are not quite tender.
Add the sweet potatoes and cook 10 minutes, again with lid on askew. Add the artichoke hearts, cannellini, salt, and pepper, and cook partially covered about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Note: At this point, the stew can be cooled, covered, refrigerated overnight, then reheated just before serving.
Blend 1 cup hot stew liquid into the thickener, stir back into the pot, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened and no raw floury taste lingers. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
Ladle into soup bowls, then pass a bowl of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano so everyone can sprinkle a little of it into their soup.
Yield: 6 servings.
This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 11:36 PM.