Sweets

Clearly you already have a plan for Thanksgiving.  You know where you'll be, or figured out who, and how many, will be coming to you.  If you're cooking, you've settled on the menu, counted your platters, ironed the napkins, and ordered the turkey.  And you know exactly which sweet potato recipe you'll be making.  I mean, duh.

I crack myself up. 

I bet your Thanksgiving plans are like mine: forever evolving, morphing, and transforming from one minute to the next.  I've already had several friends recount their fears of Thanksgiving-related familial mayhem, and to them, I say, have wine on hand. 

For me, Thanksgiving has always been about family, pies, and side dishes.  Usually in that order.

I'm fine with turkey; I really am.  I order a nice free-range one and cook it until my normally-reliable oven shuts off spontaneously midway through, and displays that inscrutable symbol in the upper-left hand corner. Then I freak out cause the turkey's not quite done, and I run around, frantic, trying to find the damn user's manual so I can figure out how to clear f*!%# symbol and get the oven to turn back on.  I kid you not: this happens every year, and I've never been smart enough to get it checked out.  Come on, though.  Am I really going to call an appliance guy to diagnose a once-a-year problem?  I think not. 

Anyway, if you want some really good Thanksgiving recipes, you've come to the right place. I've decided to prepare a few holiday dishes at random intervals over the next two weeks and share them here.  This is exceedingly nice of me since I'll be eating the same food on the 27th, and therefore will have preempted my own meal, but whatever.  The recipes will do you no good if I post them after the holiday.

So here you go.  Installment number one: sweet potatoes.

Enjoy.

...

Recipe for Thanksgiving Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecan Crumble

Over the years I've tweaked this recipe from Epicurious, changing the proportions and ending up with a version that's far less cloyingly sweet.  The addition of cardamom lends a note of complexity, but don't kid yourself: this dish is all about comfort.

Makes 6 reasonable sized servings, or slightly more

3 to 3-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 potatoes), peeled

1 egg

1-1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons very cold butter, cut into small dice (keep in fridge until needed)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter a 1-1/2 quart baking dish and set aside.

Cut the sweet potatoes into 1-1/2 inch pieces.  Place in a large pot and cover with cold water.  Set over high heat and bring to a boil.  Once the water comes to a rolling boil, the potatoes will take about 10 minutes to become sufficiently tender.  (Test one to confirm.)  Strain and allow to sit in the colander for about 15 minutes.

Puree in a food processor, stopping to swipe the sides 2 or 3 times.  You want the mixture to be quite smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, syrup, vanilla, lemon, salt, and cardamom.  Scrape in the sweet potatoes and stir with a wooden spoon until well-combined.

Transfer the potato mixture to the prepared baking dish and smooth the top.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans, and diced butter.  Rub with your fingertips until it forms small clumps.  Scatter over the potatoes.

Set the dish on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer to the hot oven.  Bake for about 45 minutes, keeping an eye on it in the last 10 minutes to make sure the nuts don't burn.  (If they get too dark, tent with foil.)  Serve hot.

printable pdf

Comments

[Dana McCauley]

Although my Thanksgiving is past, I'm going to read these recipes with an eye for my Christmas menu. Thanks I be giving to you!

[Julia]

This is great. I was just looking on Epicurious yesterday for a sweet potato sidedish but was worried everything looked too sweet. If I wanted to do this without pecans, what do you recommend for a topping substitute?

[Charmian Christie]

Like Dana, my Thanksgiving is long gone. I love sweet potato casserole and am available. I make a great green bean and walnut dish that would compliment things quite nicely. What time's dinner?

[Sheryl]

THANKS! I'll get to work translating the measurements and stuff but it doesnt sound too complicated...and now I have 2 thanksgivings to go to- the original one and a Democrats Abroad event because we have lots to be thankful for! SO i'll make it twice. YUM!

[Sheryl]

uh oh- just saw the part about food processor...we dont have one of those (note to self:put on registry. Any suggestions that don;t involve spending a lot of time @ my future mother in laws?

[heather walker]

Ahhh- THanksgiving...the holiday I (not so) secretly wish I could just have here in my own home but instead must drive down to Plymouth (I know, I know, America's Home Town...) with 30 or 40 million other people to enjoy the turkey that my grandmother-in-law slowly cooks until it is arid.

BUT - I am in charge of pies (I took over after an unfortunate incident involving unknown spices in a pumpkin pie that no one has claimed to this day)! Because Thanksgiving to me is about pies (pumpkin and pecan to be exact), family, and turkey. In that order.

[Cheryl]

Dana, if you use these at Christmas, I'll be tickled. It's not every day that this Jew gets to contribute recipes to a Christmas meal.

Julia, hmmm, are all nuts out or can you sub in hazelnuts? Those would be my #2 pick. Or you can make a traditional streusel topping with flour instead of nuts. (But check your proportions b/c it won't be a 1:1 exchange.)

Charmian, dinner is whenever you arrive. Consider your placemat set.

Sheryl, it's really a super-easy recipe. Without a food processor, just boil the potatoes a wee bit longer so they're nice and soft and mash the hell out of them with a potato masher. (For an even smoother puree, I'd suggest a crank-style food mill if you can get your hands on one.)

Heather, you love it because it gives you LEVERAGE. Like, ok, I'll go deal with your grandmother's dry turkey but that means I get to wear my iPod on the entire drive to/from Plymouth while you deal with the traffic AND the kids. Or some such. (OK, this will never work.) I wish you'd make me a pie. OH lord, I just realized I never posted that coconut cream pie recipe from WAY back. Adding that to my to-dos (along with Elisa's cheddar apple crisp, which I made, and your chicken). The list is long.

[Teresa]

Cheryl, I second that. The wine I mean. That's one way to keep you from stressing out. Sweet potatoes sound great.

[Elisa]

I have a great reframe for what I am experiencing right now -- Thank goodness the dog started barking loudly at 1am when all children are sleeping so I could closely read the comments on 5 second rule and find buried in Cheryl's response, the wonderful news that a cheddar apple crisp has been created -- I got apples yesterday -- do tell! (and sorry for run-on sentence but it is 2am)

[Jill, The Veggie Queen]

I so love sweet potatoes so this is great but I'm likely to put them in the pressure cooker to get them done in about 4 minutes. Since I don't eat eggs, I guess that I'll have to figure out what vegan sub will make it bind -- silken tofu, perhaps? Cardamom is one of my favorite mystery spices -- can't wait to make it.

[Cheryl]

Teresa, I know I'm finally a true Californian because I mentioned the wine. I never would have gone there before I moved out here.

Elisa, I've been woefully remiss. I made the crisp (wonderful, by the way) two weeks ago, but it was night and the photograph came out horribly. Alas, I need to make it again and get the photo right before posting. Nobody in my family is complaining about having to eat it again.

Jill, thanks for stopping by. I must admit, a pressure cooker is one of the few kitchen appliances I don't own, but 4 minutes is pretty impressive. And yes, the cardamom really makes this dish.

[Laurel from Simple Spoonful]

Sweet potatoes! You have hit my weakness. I could eat them every day, all year. Fries, baked, mashed, in soups, in pancakes...Uff.

This dish looks so pretty...but I always love sweet potatoes best baked or grilled whole until they start to ooze that sugary brown goodness on their own. It's amazing how sweet they can get without any additions. I am definitely going to add some cardamom and vanilla to the next batch, though. Maybe with some orange zest. What a great flavor combination!

Sheryl-- I don't own a food processor either. For things like this, I put the whisky (whisk-like, not alcoholic) attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer and go at it. It gets a really smooth and creamy texture, more so than what you'd get hand-mashing. I bet a handheld mixer could work as well.

[Nancy]

Mmmmm...this looks fantastic. Coincidentally, I have just purchased my first 5sr-inspired ingredient--cardamom--so this may be the perfect excuse to crack it open!

[Lisa Hoffman]

I just happen to have 4 sweet potatoes. I normally just bake them and throw on a bit of butter. On thanksgiving we are stuck w/ the canned variety covered in marshmallows that ooze over the side of the pan. I think I will treat my family to your version. Hope the kids like the cardamom.

[donl]

These came out great. The crumble added a sweet crunch that's lacking in my tradional marshmallow topping and the vanilla-maple syrup-cardamom perfumed rather than overwhelmed the potatoes themselves.

I tried the food processor, but my Cuisinart wasn't up to the task. So I used the ricer like I usually do. Smooth, light, and creamy.

[Cheryl Sternman Rule]

Don, I'm very excited that you tried this and that it was a success. I made it again on Thanksgiving, too, even though I'd made it for the blog only 10 days prior. I could seriously eat this stuff every day. Thanks for reporting back!