Spiced Sweet Potatoes

When mid-October rolls around every fall, I start experimenting.  The next two months are some of the busiest culinary experiences I have all year, and I want to develop recipes that wow my dinner guests. I’m always looking for new takes on holiday favorites.  Some way to infuse pumpkin into every dish I make (wait till you see an upcoming post on Pumpkin Ravioli!), or peppermint into the most unlikely of desserts.  But really, what desserts don’t get a little something from peppermint?

First, let’s start simple.  Take those holiday classics that we all know and love and make them a bit…different.  Infuse a certain “je ne sais quoi” into our ingredients lists so that when someone takes a first bite of that new dish you’ve made they’ll have to ask, “Wow.  This tastes great.  What’s in it?”

For my Spiced Sweet Potatoes–what the Northerners refer to as “Yams”–our little secret is here in the blogosphere–almonds.  Butter infused with almond extract to be exact.  I can’t believe I haven’t tried this combination before.  The sweet earthy candied potatoes mixed with a nutty almond flavor wows any palette.  AND, it doesn’t stray too far from the traditional yam recipes we all know and love.

Since it’s mid-October, enjoy the experimenting!

Spiced Sweet Potatoes

Most Sweet Potato Recipes call for a ton of holiday spices–ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc.  But rarely do we ever see sweet potatoes with nuttier flavors (sans my Aunt Cathy’s Sweet Potato Soufflé with Candied Pecans!).  I’ve infused this recipe with an almondine butter that packs a seriously sophisticated punch, but goes so naturally with our favorite traditional spices this time of year.

Ingredients:

* 4 pounds sweet potatoes

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

* 1 stick butter, room temperature

* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

* 1 teaspoon nutmeg

* 1 teaspoon allspice

* 2 tablespoons almond extract

* Salt and pepper, to taste

1.) Wash sweet potatoes and wrap in aluminum foil.  Pierce with a fork and bake until tender all the way through (375F for 1 hour and 15 minutes).  Remove potatoes from oven and cool.

2.) When cool to the touch, but still warm, peel potatoes and dump into a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.

3.) Add sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice.  In a small saucepan melt one stick butter with 2 tablespoons almond extract.  Pour infused butter over sweet potato mixture and combine all ingredients on medium speed.   Taste and adjust with any salt or pepper.

Enjoy! Makes 8 servings.

–Helana Brigman

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