Vanilla Mashed Sweet Potatoes

[Jack Parker]

I wanted to share a favorite holiday recipe. A lot of us love sweet potato casserole but I know a lot of people who do are tired of the typical, overly sweet, heavily buttered recipe. The light vanilla aroma and taste adds to the tryptophan effect of the turkey! I’ve been making it for four years and it’s my most requested holiday recipe.

Vanilla Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• 1 1/2 pounds Sweet Potatoes; washed. (leave wet)
• 1/3 to 1/2 Vanilla Bean; split lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Evaporated Milk or Heavy Cream
• 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon Grated Orange Zest (optional but highly recommended)
• Sea Salt (or regular salt)
• White Pepper (black will do)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Prick the potatoes, place on baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until fork tender. Let them cool until you can handle and peel them. Cut the potatoes and put them in a food processor.

Meanwhile, add the evaporated milk, vanilla bean and orange zest to a pot and slowly bring to a simmer. (No higher than a medium heat.) Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard the vanilla bean. Pour the mixture into the food processor and add the softened butter.

Puree the potato mixture until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I highly recommend sea salt and white pepper but regular salt and pepper do very nicely.

Serves four.

[shawkins]

I'm not normally a huge sweet potato fan, but that sounds pretty good. I may give it a shot.

[jennontheisland]

I might try that, without the salt and pepper, if it was in a pie crust.

I just don't understand sweet potatoes as a side dish in a savoury meal. Even topped with sour cream, cheese and onions, they're too sweet for dinner to me. I can't imagine trying to eat that with turkey. After? Sure. But with? Ew.

[SPMiller]

"Overly sweet" is definitely the descriptor I'd apply to most sweet potato preparations (and most other recipes) that seem popular these days; therefore, I'm glad to see these sorts of recipes popping up instead.

But then, I eat baked sweet potatoes straight from the skin as soon as they're cool enough to handle, so I know I'm more than a little odd.

[Haggis]

Do you not include the vanilla bean seeds in the recipe, and if not, why?

ETA: the recipe does sound wonderful

[Jack Parker]

shawkins: I hope you like it.

jennontheisland: This recipe is hugely adaptive! Sweet potatoes are slightly sweet by nature. For you, leaving out the salt would be a great idea because salt, when added to something sweet, accentuates the sweetness more. If you want to make this savory, you can easily do that by adding your choice of seasonings. Friends have made this with Mediterranean seasonings, Italian seasoning and even Indian seasonings and said they loved it as a savory dish. If you like twice-baked potatoes, that works with sweet potatoes, too. This recipe can easily be adapted for pies, soups and even a mousse.

SPMiller: I don't think you're odd at all. I know lots of people who like baked sweet potatoes right out of the oven and skin. Sweet potatoes are really versatile.

Haggis: The main reason to scrape the seeds out of the bean for this recipe is purely for the visual appearance of the dish. I've made it both ways and, in my experience, people prefer it without the seeds aesthetically. The whole vanilla bean is filled with flavor and can often be used more than once. The pod has more flavor than the seeds. If you like a little stronger vanilla flavor, go with 1/4 of the vanilla, scrape the seeds, and include them. Personally, I like it with the seeds included.

[TerzaRima]

Friends have made this with Mediterranean seasonings, Italian seasoning and even Indian seasonings

Sweet potatoes with Indian spices are teh nom. I've made sweet potato oven fries with a mix of curry powder, turmeric, black pepper and garlic. The crowd generally goes wild.

[Jack Parker]

Originally Posted by TerzaRima

Sweet potatoes with Indian spices are teh nom. I've made sweet potato oven fries with a mix of curry powder, turmeric, black pepper and garlic. The crowd generally goes wild.

I'm with them on that one. Curry is my all-time favorite. On sweet potatoes it's so good it'd bring Jesus back early.

[GeorgeK]

Originally Posted by TerzaRima

I've made sweet potato oven fries with a mix of curry powder, turmeric, black pepper and garlic. The crowd generally goes wild.

How do you do that? (the cooking of the potatoes that is.) Apparently, from your post, my mistake with sweet potato fries has been frying them. They always come out greasy and limp. I gave it up as a waste of effort years ago having concluded that it was impossible to have crisp sweet potato fries that were still cooked and then on visiting my daughter last week had some in a restaurant and they were very addictive. So now I know they are possible.

[Jack Parker]

Crispy sweet potato fries are possible but they take an extra step or two.

Peel your sweet potatoes and cut them in quarter inch strips. Rinse the sweet potato strips thoroughly. This washes off the starch, which can make the fries gummy and soggy.

Spread the strips out on paper towels and let them dry for at about 30 minutes. It’s important for the potatoes to be dry before they hit the oil. This is what helps get them crispy. You don't have to bread them.

Fry them in oil at 325*F for 5 minutes. Remove them and lay them out on paper towels. This is actually a pre-cooking stage and is what makes them crispy later. (Got this recipe from a chef.)

Heat up the oil to 350*F and fry them again for 5-6 minutes until you get the desired crispness. Just be careful not to burn them. Season and serve.

If your method is baking them in an oven, you have to make sure you don't crowd them onto the pan. They need a lot of room and can't touch each other or else they'll steam and be soggy. I've not made them in an oven but "people say" to dip them in egg whites first so they'll get crispy in the oven. They swear by it but I've not tried it.

[blacbird]

I like sweet potatoes simple: Chopped into bite-sized bits with some butter/margarine, lemon juice and a bit of cinnamon, baked till edibly soft.. No need to add anything really sweet to them, as they are sufficiently sweet on their own.

[TerzaRima]

George, I usually dip them in eggwhites and then do them at 425--like Jack says, they need a lot of room. Some people blanche them before hand to increase the crispy but this is an extra step and I'm lazy.

Even with fussing over them a bit they're not going to be as crispy as white potatoes, I think because their sugar content is different so they cook differently.

[Jack Parker]

Originally Posted by TerzaRima

George, I usually dip them in eggwhites and then do them at 425--like Jack says, they need a lot of room. Some people blanche them before hand to increase the crispy but this is an extra step and I'm lazy.

Even with fussing over them a bit they're not going to be as crispy as white potatoes, I think because their sugar content is different so they cook differently.

Interesting. I've never heard of blanching them first. If you do that, make sure to let them dry very, very well.