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January 7, 2009 4:53 PM   Subscribe

Give me your best sweet potato recipes!

I'm on a huge sweet potato kick lately. Mostly I've just been sticking to baked or simple roasted sweet potatoes. But I'm ready to branch out.

I prefer savory preparations to desserts. Health and ease of preparation are not concerns of mine.

Thanks!
posted by arianell to Food & Drink (39 answers total) 81 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've been sharing this one with everyone lately. I don't remember if it was originally for sweet potatoes or yams, but you could use either. Feel free to increase the sweet potatoes -- I've used as many as 5 or 6.

______

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Saute in a few tablespoons of oil:
-- 1 onion, chopped
-- 1 minced jalapeno, minced (or to taste)
-- 8 cloves garlic, chopped
-- 2" piece of ginger, grated (use a microplane; much easier)
-- 1 red pepper, chopped
-- 1 t cumin
-- 1 t coriander
-- 1/2 t paprika
-- 1 t garam masala
-- 1/2 t pepper
-- 1/4 t turmeric

Cook until onions are quite wilted and spices are fragrant. Add:
-- 8 cups stock, water, or a combination (less if you include juices from the canned beans and tomatoes)
-- 2 bay leaves
-- 3 (15 oz) cans chickpeas
-- 2 (25 oz) cans chopped tomatoes
-- 2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1/2" square pieces
-- salt to taste (it may need a lot, if the stock and/or chickpeas are not salty)

Cook the whole thing for about half an hour, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Fish out bay leaves and stick blend a little bit, until the whole thing is sort of chunky. Before serving, add:
-- 1 [15 oz] can coconut milk
-- big handful chopped cilantro

Serve with rice, or not.
posted by rossination at 5:02 PM on January 7, 2009 [4 favorites]


I can't vouch for this personally because I haven't tried the recipe yet, but I have read some totally rave reviews of Alton Brown's Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes.
posted by cloudsandstars at 5:04 PM on January 7, 2009




Also, one of my favorite breads, Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread, could probably easily (and deliciously) be made with mashed sweet potatoes too.
posted by theantikitty at 5:10 PM on January 7, 2009


I once had a sweet potato pie that had to be the single best pie I ever tasted but sadly, I never got the recipe. Most recipes I can find, like this one, use mashed sweet potato. What I had was a sweet pie made with sliced tart apple and sliced sweet potato. There was definitely lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg in the mix.

Making one of these is on my to-do list (I think parboiling the potatoes might be a good idea), but I don't have an exact recipe yet. If anyone here has made something like this before, please share!
posted by maudlin at 5:17 PM on January 7, 2009


Sweet potatoes wedges with dipping sauce

2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 3/4 inch wedges
1Tb olive oil
1/4t salt
1 1/2 t sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 500. Toss potatoes with salt and oil. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet, cook 10 minutes, turn and cook another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with dipping sauce on the side.

Dipping sauce
Mix together 2 T soy sauce, 2 T rice vinegar, 1/4 t sesame oil.

Variation
Toss potatoes with parmesan cheese and 1/4 t thyme, before baking as usual.
posted by francesca too at 5:27 PM on January 7, 2009 [3 favorites]


I've been doing the roasted sweet potato wedges (well, cubes) as above, sprinkled with a little curry powder from Penzey's. SO good.
posted by JoanArkham at 5:32 PM on January 7, 2009


Let me also suggest sweet potatoes, either baked or wedged, but with fresh lime juice. The lime makes it even more awesome.
posted by procrastination at 5:41 PM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


Sweet potato/yam gnocchi is awesome, if a little time-consuming to prepare.
posted by lekvar at 5:41 PM on January 7, 2009


I like peeling and cubing the sweet potato and then cooking them in a steamer. When tender mash them with butter, salt and some minced chipotles in adobo. Delicious, easy and quick to make.
posted by mmascolino at 5:41 PM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


Sweet potato mash with bourbon is amazingly good - just bake your yams, scoop the flesh out, and add butter, a bit of salt and pepper, some brown sugar, and a good, generous splash of bourbon. Mix, and return to the oven at about 200 degrees C for fifteen minutes or so.

Sorry I can't give more exact measurements of any kind, I always do this off the cuff. Goes very well with barbecued meats, or any meat which you have subjected to a good dose of spice rub or glaze (ham, for example).
posted by Dysk at 6:01 PM on January 7, 2009


Salsa - "salsa cruda" aka "pico de gallo" - provides a delicious topping for your standard baked sweet potato. Or maybe that's just my own idiosyncratic taste.

Also, nthing procrastination's suggestion of lime juice. Tasty!

Off topic, but in "The Invisible Man" by Ralph Waldo Ellison, there's a revelatory moment that springs from the character buying and consuming a sweet potato from a street vendor. It's... fully awesome.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:04 PM on January 7, 2009


Oh, and someone posted this on MeFi somewhere recently. I've yet to try it myself, but it looks quite delicious.
posted by Dysk at 6:05 PM on January 7, 2009


A savory twist on yr roasted spuds.
Roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 45 min
Servings: Makes 4 to 6 servings.

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes (the latter will make them quite spicy, so using according to your preferences)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 pounds medium sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Coarsely grind coriander, fennel, oregano, and red pepper flakes in an electric coffee/spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Stir together spices and salt.
Cut potatoes lengthwise into 1-inch wedges.
Toss wedges with oil and spices in a large roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 20 minutes. Turn wedges over with a spatula and roast until tender and slightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes more.


Also, the NC Sweet Potato Commission recently launched a 'recipe' blog replacing the excellent newsletter I received for years. Links and etc are there.


maudlin

This is not exact (no apples or lemmon) but I bet you could tweak it and come close to what you're looking for. I'd start with probably 4 cups sliced peeled tart apples (eg.Granny Smith). Place apples in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain and go from there.

Old Fashioned SweetPotato Cobbler
Ingredients:

4-5 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick(about 8 cups)
Lightly Salted Water to Cover
2 cups Sugar
4 Tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 Stick) Unsalted Butter
2 (9-inch) Rounds Unbaked Pie Pastry
2 Tbsp. Milk
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1/4 cup Chopped Pecans, optional


Preparation:

Place SweetPotato slices in a large saucepan with lightly salted water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer about 7-8 minutes, or until slices are just tender but still firm. Drain all but 2 cups cooking liquid from pan. Reserve SweetPotato slices.

To liquid in pan, add sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Add butter. Place pan over medium heat and stir until sugar and flour dissolve and butter melts. Return SweetPotato slices to pan and let syrup bubble up. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Layer slices in the bottom of an 8"x10" glass baking dish. Pour syrup over. Cut pie pastry into 3/4-inch strips and layer on liberally like latticework. Brush pastry top with milk and then sprinkle with sugar. Scatter pecans over top, if desired. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until pastry lightly browns and juices bubble up. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.


You might want to try Mark Bittman's Savory Pie Crust (NYT) and make an 'apple/sweet potato pie' (vs cobbler).
posted by dawson at 6:09 PM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


I peel and boil them until they're tender, then mash them with a little butter, a drizzle of real maple syrup, and salt and pepper. Not too unhealthy, and dead easy.
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:16 PM on January 7, 2009


Sweet potato fries:

Chop sweet potatoes into thin strips (~0.5 cm X 0.5 cm X a few inches)

Put strips in a bowl, pour over enough olive oil to lightly coat them
Add salt and black pepper (to taste)
Cover the bowl and shake vigorously until they are well coated

Lay the strips out on an oiled baking sheet (try not to have too much overlap)

Bake @~400 degrees for as long as it takes for them to become soft and delicious - usually 20-30 min.

Enjoy.

PS: These are great by themselves, but also make for a delicious and innovative addition to sushi.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:24 PM on January 7, 2009


I found this recipe on askmefi recently and it is goood. Sorry not to credit the poster...
posted by cestmoi15 at 6:36 PM on January 7, 2009


Hey, thanks dawson!

Here's another savoury dish: Sweet Potato Lasagne
posted by maudlin at 6:56 PM on January 7, 2009


Best answer: Another chipotle-related dish: blend chipotles in adobe sauce with cream; pour over sliced sweet potatoes; bake as a gratin until tender (maybe 40 minutes? haven't done this in a while). Yum.
posted by yarrow at 7:25 PM on January 7, 2009


Have you ever mashed sweet potatoes and then added garlic salt and butter? When my mom first put this on the table at a Thanksgiving meal, I thought, "Oh no. How can I be polite about refusing this?" But then we all ended up fighting over who got to be the one to lick the bowl because it was THAT GOOD.

Who knew? So simple and yet so delicious.
posted by jeanmari at 7:28 PM on January 7, 2009


African Chicken stew with sweet potato, unbelievably good!
posted by bluesky43 at 7:31 PM on January 7, 2009


Best answer: I tried the Roasted Yam and Apple Salad from Bon Appetit (scroll down to almost the bottom of the page) and it was incredibly good.
posted by mogget at 7:54 PM on January 7, 2009




I use just about the same recipe as the one you love, but with paprika sprinkled all over the slices. Just had it tonight. So tasty! I've also had chili powder recommended instead of the paprika.
posted by Heidelberg at 8:11 PM on January 7, 2009


Best answer: I posted this in a recent recipe request thread. It's one of my favourite things to cook. One thing I forgot to mention is that the spices in the chickpeas should be almost too strong to eat, so that they fill in the relative blandness of the sweet potato. Also a chopped tomato cooked with the chickpeas is nice.

Steamed sweet potatoes mixed in with linguine and crumbled sheep's milk fetta cheese, maybe with some sliced kalamata olives, is also good.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 8:43 PM on January 7, 2009


West African Peanut-Potato Stew

Serves 6-8

1 onion, chopped
2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 14.5 ounce cans chopped tomatoes
2 14.5 ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 pound green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces (fresh or frozen)
1 ½ cups vegetable broth
¼ cup natural peanut butter

1. Saute onion, jalapenos, ginger and garlic in a large pot until onions begin to soften.
2. Add cumin, cinnamon, salt, red pepper and (if using it) coriander.
3. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
4. Add sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chickpeas, green beans, broth, and peanut butter.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes (or until potatoes are tender), stirring occasionally.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:24 PM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


I use this recipe for Garlic Sweet Potato Mash from Warren Ellis. The longer version in the link is freaking hilarious, but if you want the short version, here it is.

- Slice the top off a head of garlic and put it inside a tinfoil pouch. Splash it with a tablespoon or two of a good dark beer. Seal the top of the tinfoil pouch, and put it in a 375 degree F oven for an hour.

- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. While it is heating up, peel and slice three large sweet potatoes into medium-thick slices. When the water is boiling, put the potatoes in. Keep them at a low boil for about 20-30 minutes. When they are soft (a butter knife goes through a slice easily), remove from heat and drain.

- Remove the garlic from the oven. Remove the cloves from the head of garlic and cut the tips off, and squeeze the roasted garlic from each clove into the pot of potatoes. Add a pinch of cinnamon if desired and mash the garlic and potatoes together using a masher or a spoon.

There, I managed to take all the fun out of Warren's recipe, but it still tastes awesome.
posted by bedhead at 9:56 PM on January 7, 2009


This isn't a proper answer for you because I don't have a recipe, but I recently had a sweet potato latke that was more than adequately delicious. Try making some if you want to experiment.
posted by Acari at 10:41 PM on January 7, 2009


I only have two sweet potato recipes.

Dill Mixed Potato Fry with Crushed Walnuts (for 2)

1 large sweet potato
3 medium sized baking potatoes
1 chicken boullion cube/1 cup chicken stock
1 cup crushed walnuts
1 tablespoon of dill

Peel and dice the sweet potato, boiling it until slightly soft but still firm (about 5-10 minutes) and drain
Dice the baking potatoes, and fry them without oil in a covered teflon pan
When the baking potatoes begin to soften, and the chicken boullion or stock and the sweet potatoes
Fry open a little longer, add crushed walnuts and dill

Sweet Potato Pie

Crust:
3 cups flour
1 cup melted butter
1 cup cold water

(Admittedly, I do this by eye, so the measurements might be inexact. You can also buy pie crusts of course, but the key is to gradually add a mixture of melted butter and cold water to sifted flour, slowly, a bit at a time, and kneading the dough between applications until you have a thick, plyable dough)

Filling:
Two large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
I cup sugar
1-2 eggs (1 egg will hold it, but 2 gives it this nice custardy aftertaste)
1/4 tspn each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and clove

Boil the sweet potato pieces until soft, drain, allow to cool, mix everything else in. How uniformly mixed you want it is up to you - sometimes I like to leave small chunks of sweet potato in it. Also, I recommend spooning the filling into the crust and levelling as you go, instead of pouring it in and then levelling it. For some reason, this makes for a firmer pie.

Bake at 350°F/180°C for 40 minutes or until the crust is uniformly golden brown and the center feels firm with the back of a spoon. Rotate the pie once after 20 minutes.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:54 PM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


Also, I've seen people cover the top of their sweet potato pies with a thick layer of Frosted Flakes before putting it in the oven. The sugar on the flakes actually melts and carmelizes, making a crispy, caramel, corn-tinged topping.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:57 PM on January 7, 2009


I do the same thing as Salvor Hardin, but I add chopped up rosemary before baking. It adds a lovely touch!
posted by fantine at 1:15 AM on January 8, 2009


I have on occasion subsisted on baked sweet potato + wasabi mayonnaise.
posted by doiheartwentyone at 5:32 AM on January 8, 2009 [1 favorite]


If you sear the sweet potato gnocchi before dressing and serving it (pan fry a little), and serve it with any kind of butter/brown butter, it will be the single most delicious mouthful you will ever have. Mouthgasm.
posted by kenbennedy at 7:44 AM on January 8, 2009


I am basically in love with sweet potatoes (savory-style) & do this probably once a week:

Peel & cube one sweet potato & saute in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes. Crush a couple cloves of garlic & add to pan along with a pinch or two of salt. Add maybe 1/4 cup of water or so & steam for twenty-thirty minutes. In the meantime, make a bit of pasta (preferably a shape like rigatoni). Add spinach leaves to steamed sweet potatoes & steam till wilty. Add pasta to sweet potatoes/spinach, add a ton of romano or parmesan cheese, & serve! I've also made this with butternut squash in addition to the sweet potato, & it's really great.
posted by oh really at 8:08 AM on January 8, 2009 [4 favorites]


I make roasted sweet potatoes pretty often, cutting them in chunks and dousing liberally with olive oil, pepper, rosemary & seasoned salt. I roast them at 375 for at least an hour, turning every 15 minutes. I frequently add onion wedges, which get sweet & savory. I also make Buffalo potato wedges, covering sweet and/or white potatoes with Tabasco sauce in addition to olive oil, then roasting. Most types of sausage can be added to roasted potatoes, esp. kielbasa.

I don't make fries at home, but sweet potato fries are awesome.
posted by theora55 at 8:18 AM on January 8, 2009 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Caribbean Sweet Potato Casserole

Sauce:
1 garlic clove
2 TB lime juice
2 TB chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper
2 1/2 C coconut milk

Filling:
4 C sliced sweet potatoes (about 2 whole potatoes)
1 C cooked rice
1/2 C black beans

Topping:
3/4 C cracker crumbs
1 TB oil
1/4 tsp cumin

Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour 1/3 into a 8 by 10 baking dish. Layer half the potatoes, rice, and beans. Pour 1/3 of the sauce followed by the remaining potato, rice and beans and rest of the sauce. Mix the topping ingredients together and then sprinkle over top and bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

This was adapted from one of the Moosewood cookbooks. I replaced cornmeal with the crackers because the baked cornmeal came out too gritty to my taste. Also, you don't have to be exact with the potato, rice, bean ratio. Play around with what's on hand.


Roasted Sweet Potato Puree
3 lbs sweet potato (about 4 or 5 med)
1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom
6 TB butter
1 TB balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Prick washed potatoes in several places and arrange on baking sheet. Bake 60 minutes.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and puree in processor or blender.

Melt butter in saucepan over med heat. Cook gently swirling the pan often until the butter begins to foam and there are small brown dots around the edges. Lift pan off the heat and continue swirling until butter is golden brown. (This is an important step and really gives the potatoes a fantastic flavor.)

Stir butter into potatoes and heat until warm enough to serve. Stir in vinegar, salt and pepper.

I am not a huge sweet potato fan but this recipe is a favorite-- the flavoring is just perfect.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:58 AM on January 8, 2009 [1 favorite]


My sisters makes a fantastic sweet potato mash. The actual recipe comes from Claudia Rosen's "The New Book of Middle Eastern Food." The gist: cut up and boil sweet potatoes. Drain, and mash with butter, cinnamon, and ground ginger. Add raisins. (You can soak the raisins for 15 minutes in hot water before adding them.) It's SO good. I could eat buckets of this stuff.

I like to do sweet potato fries coated in a Korean chili paste. You can find it (sold in tubs, at least the kind I use is) in Asian markets.

Also, do you mean turn you orange like this?
posted by delayed-reaction android at 11:15 AM on January 8, 2009 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: These all sound awesome, thanks everyone!
posted by arianell at 12:15 PM on January 8, 2009




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