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SWEET POTATOES
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A smile comes to my face when I see sweet potatoes on the table. It
doesn't matter if it's a sweet potato cobbler, candied yams, sweet
potato casserole, sweet potato custard or just a baked sweet potato.
There is no limit to the number of wonderful dishes that can be created using this popular tuber. Just ask any Southerner.
The fact that sweet potatoes are high in beta carotene is important,
but no one has to convince me of their nutritional value to get me to
try them.
Sweet potatoes have been a favorite of mine since I was a child.
Perhaps this is because they were plentiful and my mother made so many
tasty treats with them.
Sometimes, when she was short on time, she would cut a raw sweet potato
into length-wise slices about one-fourth inch thick and fry them in a
little butter and oil. When they were golden brown on both sides, she
would remove them from the pan onto paper towels to drain. That's when
they got a generous sprinkling of granulated sugar. Simple but good.
A few days ago, a friend and I were discussing candied yams. We both
remembered that when we were young, candied yams meant just that ...
candied. The syrup was very thick, and the yams were chewy. That might
not sound very good to you, but believe me, they were delicious and
quite memorable.
Lately, I have been on a sweet potato binge. I can't seem to get enough
of them. Sometimes I will just pop one in the microwave and enjoy it
with lots of butter and a generous sprinkling of brown sugar.
I also have been experimenting with them and came up with a great
recipe for Sweet Potato Coconut Squares. The recipe calls for cooked
and mashed sweet potatoes, but you could use canned sweet potatoes if
you wanted to cut down on preparation steps. Instead of boiling the
sweet potatoes, I just bake, peel and mash.
I don't know why I bought canned cream of coconut, but I found it in
the kitchen pantry and it certainly seemed like a good ingredient for a
sweet potato dish. I had raisins on hand, and I always have liked
raisins with sweet potatoes, so they went into this new dish also.
Butter-flavored cake mix was used simply because I had it on hand, but you could substitute any other cake mix you might have.
SWEET POTATO COCONUT SQUARES
1 can (16 ounces) cream of coconut
3 slightly beaten eggs
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup raisins
1 box butter-flavored cake mix
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cream of coconut, eggs, brown
sugar, spices, sweet potato and raisins. Mix well. Pour into large
baking dish or pan (approximately 10-by-14 inches).
Combine cake mix and butter in bowl of food processor. Process by
pulsing until crumbly. Add pecans and toss to mix. Sprinkle over top of
sweet potato mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until top is golden
brown. Cool before cutting into squares. Serve with whipped cream, if
desired.
Published September 5, 2007 in the Gadsden Times
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