Friday, December 5, 2008

Liz's Candied Sweet Potatoes

This is a slight variant on the recipe Robert's aunt made at Thanksgiving, with a somewhat lower butter and sugar to potato ratio, but still yummy. The ratios definitely don't need to be precise; you can work with the amount of potato you have and decide how sweet a glaze you want for them. You will want to make sure you increase the water in proportion to the potato, however.

Liz's Candied Sweet Potatoes

1 1/2 lb. peeled and cubed sweet potato*
2 T butter
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/3 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 c. water

* This was the post-peeled and cubed weight according to my scale.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, 30 minutes to 55 minutes (varies greatly based on the size of your "cubes"), stirring every 5 minutes or so (I did it more like every 10 minutes).

When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove the lid and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer until the sauce has reduced to a glaze (this happened for me almost immediately).

Makes 4 servings, about 250 calories each.

I had it for dinner tonight with oven baked chicken strips. I made the potatoes this afternoon, and I think they tasted better after setting in the fridge for a few hours than they did right off the stovetop.

4 comments:

Tam said...

I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes, and I seem to especially hate them when they are made sweeter. I like them all right as fries, and one time I had them rubbed with olive oil and spices and cooked (in small cubes, of course) in the oven in a covered glass dish. Those were good.

Not to insult what I'm sure is a fine recipe! :-)

Anonymous said...

I think this sounds really good. I'll have to try it - great way to have a veggie and dessert at the same time.

Sally said...

Tam, I was anti-sweet-potato for a couple of decades due to a sweet potato with marshmallows recipe at a church potluck. Even though I know I don't like marshmallows, I let it make me think I didn't like sweet potatoes either. (Dumb kid!) But I'm down with sweet potatoes now cooked all kinds of ways. Do you like pumpkin?

Mom, I've been thinking I might try it without black pepper and adding a bit of cinnamon instead. I'll let you know how this experiment turns out.

Tam said...

Pumpkin is all right, at least in a pie or mixed up with cool whip.