A hankering for sweet potatoes
Make fries, a casserole, an Indian dessert with this year’s harvest.
Last spring, shortly after visiting whiskey-maker Justin Manglitz at his Georgia farm, an email popped into my in-box.
“I planted most of my garden in sweet potato slips the other day,” Justin wrote. By fall, he predicted he’d have 800 pounds of bodacious Beauregards on hand. Perhaps, he suggested, we could develop a recipe for sweetpotato fries, “which are notoriously tricky to do well.”
All summer and into the fall, I checked in with Justin to see how his sweet potatoes were coming along.
Been a bit rainy, he said. Quite a cool fall. Vines still green. Not there yet.
The more Justin hemmed and hawed, the more I nudged. Meanwhile, I was starting to dream about what I would do with this forthcoming bounty of sweet potatoes.
Like trying chef Hudson Rouse’s sweet-potato souffle with pulled pork and Nepalese pepper-pecan crunch. Inspired by his grandmother’s sweet-potato casserole, he concocted a layered affair of mashed sweet potatoes, topped by juicy pulled pork and a buttery pecan crumble with a hint of cinnamon. Rouse not only shared the recipe but also provided instructions on how to eat it.
“This dish is meant to be consumed with some of each ingredient in every bite,” he said. “It is also accompanied very well with collard greens or green beans.”
If you are looking for a holiday crowd-pleaser, you’ve hit the jackpot. Don’t feel like smoking a Boston butt? Order some pulled pork from your favorite barbecue joint.
When Justin gave me a sign that his taters were ripe for digging, I made haste to his farm, taking with me a batch of ready-to-fry Sweet Potato Tots, a side that had caught my eye when I read Chris Kronner’s “A Burger to Believe In” (Ten Speed Press, $29.99).
Part of the joy was witnessing Justin shovel sweet potatoes fresh out of the ground (he wouldn’t let me help!), then get in the kitchen to develop his recipe. I already knew he was an excellent fry cook, having sampled his chicken tenders and French fries on my spring visit.
Understand, Justin makes an award-winning portfolio of whiskeys for Atlanta’s ASW Distillery. Naturally, he’s got a keen eye (and mouth and sniffer) for the science of food and drink. If he can seduce caramel notes from grain mash, imagine what he can do with sweet potatoes. After a couple of french-fry runs, he decided they were best prebaked, then crisped in hot peanut oil. Try his recipe; you’ll agree.
Of course sweet potatoes play a starring role in fall desserts, from pies and pound cakes to cookies and doughnuts.
A number of sweet treats in Jenne Claiborne’s “Sweet Potato Soul” (Harmony Books, $19.99) caught my eye. Nana’s Sweet Potato Pie, Sweet Potato-Tahini Cookies, Sweet Potato Sugar Cookies, No-Bake Sweet Potato Gingerbread Bars: This vegan chef knows from sweet potatoes. She even whips up a Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie.
In the end, the dessert that captured my fancy was Nik Sharma’s Sweet Potato Bebinca, which he attributes to his Indian grandmother. (What is it about grannnies and sweet potatoes?)
“Bebinca is the ultimate Goan dessert, an egg and coconut milk pudding, which can be made several different ways,” Sharma writes in his rapturously received cookbook, “Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food” (Chronicle Books, $35). Scented with nutmeg and
continued from D1 a bit of turmeric for color, his grandmother’s “mock bebinca” strikes me as the happy marriage of flan and Southern sweet potato pie.
It’s also super-easy to assemble. You don’t even have to take out the mixer; just stir everything together in a one big bowl.
You can probably see where this is going: On my Thanksgiving table, that’s where. If I’m lucky, maybe Justin will spot me a few of his sweet potatoes.
Recipes
From fries to a casserole with pulled pork and pecans to a sweet treat from India, here are three terrific recipes for fall sweet potatoes.
JUSTIN MANGLITZ’S SWEET POTATO FRENCH FRIES
As with all fried foods, temperature is everything, so use a thermometer. Make as many batches as you want, using about one large sweet potato per person. 4 large sweet potatoes 2-3 cups clean vegetable oil for frying (Manglitz uses peanut oil) Kosher salt
Peel and slice sweet potatoes into strips. Place in a bowl of ice water until ready to use. This will keep them from browning.
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Drain the fries in a colander, pat dry with paper towels or a clean dish towel and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
Fill a deep, cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed pot with 2-3 inches of oil. Heat to 370 degrees. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pot, fry potatoes until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. (Try to maintain a cooking temperature of about 350 degrees.) Drain on a wire rack placed over a tray. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Serves: 4
Per serving: 257 calories (percent of calories from fat, 48), 2 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 14 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 135 milligrams sodium.
HUDSON ROUSE’S PULLED PORK WITH SMASHED SWEET POTATOES AND PECANS
FOR THE PORK
1 small Boston butt or 1/2 of
a large butt (5-7 pounds) Salt and pepper
1 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons kosher salt ⅓ cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon minced garlic 4 dashes of hot sauce or 1 small hot chili pepper, minced
FOR THE SWEET POTATOES AND PECAN CRUMBLE
4-6 jumbo sweet potatoes 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter,
divided
3/4 cup granulated sugar,
divided
1/2 teaspoon of ground
cinnamon
1 hot chili pepper, minced
as finely as possible 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 cups pecans, chopped
To make the pork: Pat the butt dry, and rub all over with salt and pepper.
Smoke for 6 to 8 hours or until meat reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees. If using a charcoal grill, do not place butt directly over the fire. Pile the charcoal on one side of the grill, and place the meat on the other. You will have to replenish the fire with coals periodically.
While the pork is smoking, heat vinegar, salt, granulated sugar, garlic and hot sauce or chili pepper in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, stir to dissolve the sugar and salt, and cook for about 1 minute. Take off heat, cover and set aside.
Once the pork is done, wrap in foil and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. Shred into a large bowl and stir in vinegar sauce. You may not need the entire recipe of sauce. Start with about half of it, and save the rest to rewet the pork, or for another use.
To make the sweet potatoes and crumble:
While the pork is smoking, prepare the sweet potatoes:
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry sweet potatoes. Pierce with a fork or sharp knife. Wrap individually in foil, place on a large baking try and roast until very soft to the touch, about 1 1/2 hours for jumbo potatoes.
Allow potatoes to cool for about 20 minutes. Peel, slice and place in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup (1 stick) of the butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon. Mash with a potato masher and mix well. (If you prefer a smoother texture, puree the sweet-potato mixture in the food processor.)
Heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Heat the remaining 1/4 cup (half stick) of butter, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the hot chili pepper and salt in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted (about 3 minutes), stir in pecans to coat. Pour the pecans on a baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. To assemble the dish: Spread the sweet potatoes on a large tray, bowl or other serving dish.
Taste the pork and add more sauce if needed. Arrange pork over sweet potatoes. Top with pecan crumble, and serve. Makes: 6-8 entree portions
Per serving, based on 6: 657 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66), 5 grams protein, 54 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, 50 grams fat (17 grams saturated), 62 milligrams cholesterol, 559 milligrams sodium.
NIK SHARMA’S SWEET POTATO BEBINCA
This flan-like sweet is easy to make and keeps well. Jaggery is an unrefined brown sugar frequently used in India; it can be found at international supermarkets online. I used muscovado sugar. 2-3 large sweet potatoes
(about 1 1/4 pound total) 6 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing the baking pan 6 large eggs
1 cup jaggery or
muscovado sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup 1 teaspoon freshly grated
nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground
turmeric
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 (13 1/2-ounce) can full-fat
coconut milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse sweet potatoes to remove any dirt, pat dry with paper towels, and poke several holes in them with a fork for the steam to escape. Put potatoes in a baking dish or baking sheet. Roast until completely tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool completely before handling.
Peel the sweet potatoes, discard skins, and puree the flesh in a food processor. Measure out 1 2/3 cups of the puree and set aside, saving the rest for another use. (The sweet potatoes may be roasted one day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Line the bottom of a 9-inch round baking pan with 2-inch sides with parchment paper and grease lightly with butter. (This works better if you take the paper out of the pan lay it flat on the counter.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the sweet potato puree, the 6 tablespoons butter, eggs, jaggery or muscovado sugar, maple syrup, nutmeg, turmeric and salt until smooth. Add coconut milk and flour and whisk until the mixture is smooth, with no visible streaks of flour.
Pour batter into greased baking pan, place pan on a large baking sheet, and bake for one hour, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. The pudding should be firm to the touch in the center and light golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, and preferably overnight, to set.
Once the bebinca has set, run a sharp knife around the sides of the pan and flip the pan onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. If necessary, tap gently to release. Peel parchment off top. Invert onto a serving dish, and peel off second sheet of parchment. Slice into wedges and serve. Store leftover bebinca, wrapped in plastic wrap, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes: 8 servings
Per serving: 477 calories (percent of calories from fat, 45), 8 grams protein, 59 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 24 grams fat ( 17 grams saturated), 182 milligrams cholesterol, 214 milligrams sodium.