Cook_s_Country_-_October_2019

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 • COOK’S COUNTRY 21

I’M ALWAYS THANKFUL for my
mom’s sweet potatoes. She roasts the
orange spuds in their jackets until they
wrinkle and start to ooze a sort of natu-
ral sweet potato caramel, and then she
removes the peels and whips the soft
fl esh in a stand mixer with a splash of
orange liqueur for a citrusy kick. There
is no marshmallow topping here;
instead my mother crowns the whipped
potatoes with a mixture of crushed
oatmeal cookies and melted butter. It
may sound a little odd—and it is—but
the result is a full-fl avored, salty-sweet
dish that is always in high demand at
our holiday table.
My mom, who got the recipe from
her mom, has tweaked the recipe to fi t
her tastes over the years, and I think
it’s nearly perfect as is. But just because
there’s one great version doesn’t mean
there can’t be another. In the spirit of
my mom’s creativity, I wanted to create
a recipe inspired by her version but with
my own personal twist.
I started with 4 pounds of sweet
potatoes (enough for a Thanksgiv-
ing crowd) and a package of oatmeal
cookies. For the sake of due diligence,
I tried boiling and steaming the sweet
potatoes, but roasting was by far the
best method; it produced concentrat-
ed—not diluted—sweet potato fl avor.
I also loved how the roasting sweet
potatoes made the whole test kitchen
smell like Thanksgiving.

As for the whipping, did I really

need to haul out the stand mixer? In a

word, no: A good romp with a potato

masher gave the potatoes a silky tex-

ture without the need for a mixer. My

tasters loved the orange liqueur, espe-

cially when I added grated orange zest

and a little brown sugar to enhance

it. The cookie topping was great, but

when I tested it with diff erent brands

of oatmeal cookies, the results were

wildly diff erent—and inconsistency just

won’t do in the test kitchen.

Baking my own cookies to crumble

was an option but seemed like too

much work here. Instead, I pivoted

to another sweet, crunchy topping: a

simple stir-together streusel made with

fl our, brown sugar, and melted butter.

The streusel tasted great and provided

a proper contrasting crunch on top of

the creamy sweet potatoes. A pinch of

cayenne added to this topping carried

a hint of heat and a reminder that this

sweet dish had savory roots, too.

Since my mom reads this magazine,

it’s important for me to come out and

say I know that no sweet potatoes will

ever be as good as the ones she makes

for me. So, to diff erentiate our two

recipes, I decided to give my version

another name: Sweet Potato Crunch.

I’m thankful for the many things I’ve

learned from my mom—including

how to make some truly amazing

sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato

Crunch

Women in my family have been making

this Thanksgiving side for generations.

Now it’s my turn. by Morgan Bolling

SWEET POTATO CRUNCH

Serves 8

Buy potatoes of similar size and shape,

no more than 1 pound each, so they

cook at the same rate. Orange juice can

be substituted for the Grand Marnier,

if you prefer.

SWEET POTATOES

4 pounds sweet potatoes, unpeeled

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1¼ teaspoons table salt

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

TOPPING

2⁄3 cup all-purpose fl our

1⁄3 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon table salt

1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. FOR THE SWEET POTATOES:
   Adjust oven rack to upper-middle
   position and heat oven to 400 degrees.
   Line rimmed baking sheet with alumi-
   num foil. Poke potatoes several times
   with paring knife and space evenly on
   prepared sheet. Bake until potatoes are
   very tender and can be easily squeezed

with tongs, 1¼ to 1½ hours. Let pota-

toes sit until cool enough to handle, at

least 20 minutes.

2. Remove and discard potato peels.
   Transfer potato fl esh to large bowl and
   mash with potato masher until smooth.
   Stir in melted butter, Grand Marnier,
   sugar, salt, and orange zest. Transfer
   potato mixture to 8-inch square baking
   dish and spread into even layer with
   rubber spatula.


3. FOR THE TOPPING: Whisk
   fl our, brown sugar, salt, and cayenne
   together in bowl until fully combined.
   Stir in melted butter until mixture
   forms clumps. Break into pea-size
   pieces and distribute evenly over sweet
   potato mixture.


4. Bake until topping is fragrant and
   darkened slightly in color and potatoes
   are hot, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for
   25 minutes before serving.

At end of step 2, let sweet potato

mixture cool completely. Cover dish

with aluminum foil and refrigerate for

up to 24 hours. When ready to serve,

bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove

from oven, uncover, and continue with

step 3.

YA M

Sweet Potatoes

versus Yams

In the United States, sweet potatoes
are often confused with yams. Al-
though they are similar in shape, these
two tubers are not closely related
botanically. Yams, which are a staple
food in parts of Asia, Africa, Central
America, South America, and the West
Indies, belong to the genus Dioscorea
and typically have white fl esh and
sometimes a rough, shaggy exterior.
Sweet potatoes, which are popular in
the United States, belong to the genus
Ipomoea and usually have smoother
skins and orange fl esh.

TO MAKE AHEAD