Thanksgiving Dinner: Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Alright folks, it’s been a whirlwind of a week, so I apologize for the announcement and then no follow-up recipes right away.  However, despite the delay, today we’re going to talk about sweet potatoes.

These are not your traditional marshmallow sweet potatoes.  I don’t really care for them, so if you want those I would suggest you turn to this Bon Apetit recipe for your inspiration.  However, if you want an awesome way to prepare sweet potatoes, keep reading!

A few years ago I got my bi-monthly issue of Cook’s Illustrated and it had a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes.  I love Cook’s Illustrated mostly because I know the recipes will work, and it tells me why they do.  That is so important!  I don’t like it for other reasons, mostly because it can be a bit pretentious.  Anyway, I digress.

The article said that sweet potatoes get sweeter if they stay in the oven at a lower temperature for longer, but that they require higher temperatures to finish cooking (something to do with the developing starches, i.e. sugars).  And folks, this is where things get awesome for the busy, forgetful, or lazy cook (like me!): these potatoes go into a cold oven!!!  How awesome.  No preheating needed.  I kid you not, they come out tasting as if they had sugar on them and you spent forever heating up the oven to bake them – but that is a deception!  Awesome.

You can pretty much spice these any which way you like – if you’re a purist, toss them with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and you’re good to go.  If you like a hint of the holidays, throw on some cinnamon and cloves (not too much!) or even some cayenne (go easy, this isn’t a dish designed to blow your taste buds out of the water, at least not with Thanksgiving).  Have fun with it, and know that pretty much anything you do, as long as you follow the mantra of putting those spuds in a cold oven, will produce a deliciously sweet and savory side!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
serves about 6 as a side dish

4 medium sweet potatoes, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp table salt)
additional salt and pepper (to taste – potatoes may take a lot of salt)
Optional flavor combinations:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
pinch of cayenne (may want to mix this in with the oil so it doesn’t clump all on one chunk of potato)

1. Dice the potatoes and in a large bowl, toss them with the oil and spices.

2. Put the potatoes in an oiled 9×17 casserole dish (they do not have to be in one layer, in fact they’ll be a couple chunks deep).  Place in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 400F.

3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft with a slightly browned exterior.  Stir them once after about 20 minutes to allow potatoes to cook evenly and browned on all sides.

A Menu for Thanksgiving

I’m going to squeak in just barely with my promised post today.  But here it is folks (drumroll, please):

Over the next few weeks, up until Thanksgiving, I’m going to be sharing with you recipes that I think are delicious, and put all together will make an amazing Thanksgiving meal.  I’ll not only provide the individual recipes, I will also give you in the week before Thanksgiving a shopping list (that you can edit, so that you can take our things like “salt” or “tomato paste” if you already own those things) and a detailed timeline of what to make when, so you’re not frantically finishing up as your guests are milling about hungry.

The idea is, that with these recipes you will not only be able to enjoy the cooking, but you’ll also enjoy the actual holiday.  I’ve done everything from undercook the turkey to burning the pecans for pecan pie to oblivion and in between, so I know that Thanksgiving preparations can be stressful. Hopefully with these recipes, tips, and schedules you’ll be able to cook your Thanksgiving with a bit more confidence (and success) than some of my past Thanksgivings.  And remember the mantra I have with my sisters: something always has to go wrong with the food on Thanksgiving, otherwise it’s just not Thanksgiving.  It’s how you roll with it that counts.

So, here is the menu we’ll be talking about around here for the next few weeks (look familiar?):

Butternut Squash Soup
Roast Turkey with Herbed Stuffing
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Dinner Rolls
Pumpkin Pie

To kick it off, grab a martini glass (or any glass, for that matter, we’re not standing on ceremony here) and whip up an Apple Martini – not that you need an excuse, but if you’re going to be serving this along with your Thanksgiving you have to test it out first, right?

Happy Halloween!

 

I hope you get lots of candy, especially large Reeses Pieces Peanut Butter cups.  They’re the best. Unless you like apples or nuts or other healthy stuff.  Then I hope you get lots of those.

Stay tuned for a big announcement tomorrow!