Soul Sweet Potatoes

 

If you are to make one recipe for next year's Thanksgiving or Christmas or anytime it's this one!  Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman has never steered me wrong before and this is no exception.  We're going to call it a side dish, but it's so sweet it could double as a dessert.  But hey, since there are sweet potatoes in it, it must be healthy, right? 

 

Soul Sweet Taters

found in Food Network Magazine, November 2012

 

4 medium sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup flour

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

 

Preheat oven to 375.  Put the sweet potatoes on the oven rack and bake until fork-tender, about 45 minutes.  When potatoes are finished cooking, let cool slightly, about five minutes.  Slice them open lengthwise and scrape out the flesh with a fork into a large bowl. 

 

*Note: I did the above the day before I planned to serve the dish.

 

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Add the granulated sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, and salt to the bowl with the sweet potatoes.  Mash the mixture with a potato masher until combined and slightly lumpy.

 

Now, in a separate bowl, mash the brown sugar, pecans, flour, and butter with a pastry cutter or fork until thoroughly combined.  The mixture should resemble a crumble. 

 

Spread the sweet potato mixutre in a oval-shaped baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture over top.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Duchess Potatoes

My last Easter recipe that I'm going to share is a potato recipe.

I've never made homemade mashed potatoes before. I'm an instant-potato girl. (I know!!) Anyway, I saw a picture of Duchess Potatoes in my new Cooks Country cookbook. Which by the way, I could have a post just on how awesome of a cookbook this is. Anyway, the photo of the potatoes looked festive - perfect for a holiday. As I was mixing them up I was a little nervous. Were they going to be good? Yes, yes yes! They looked great and tasted fantastic. The original recipe serves 8, so I had to triple it. But they were very easy to make (I even did it the night before and put them in the fridge until ready to bake and serve)!

Duchess Potatoes

found in Cooks Country

3 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed

1 cup heavy cream

6 Tablespoons butter, cut in 1/4 inch cubes and softened

1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Prick potatoes all over with fork, place on plate and microwave until tender, 18-25 minutes.

2. Cut potatoes in half. When cool enough to handle, scoop flesh into large bowl and mash until no lumps remain. Add cream, 3 T butter, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and baking powder and continue to mash until potatoes are smooth. Let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Gently fold in remaining butter until pieces are evenly distributed.

3. Transfer potato mixture into piping bag fitted with 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 8 4-inch-wide mounds of potato on rimmed baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray and bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Serve.