Mom and Dad are hosting Thanksgiving again and I am bringing home-made cherry pie and a sweet potato dish. I feel pretty lucky – aside from taking a little time, these recipes are pretty simple. After all, I cook almost every day, so this shouldn’t be a bigger deal…except that this IS a special holiday… AND people expect my food to taste fantastic… AND Thanksgiving food is supposed to be more special than regular food. Right?
I think I am having a little performance anxiety, which was amplified when I tasted my food. It was too sweet. Did I make a mistake? Or was the recipe simply too sugary? If I was on Top Chef, might they have suggested I throw it out and start over?
Maybe I am over-exaggerating. I’ll try to be fair and diplomatic. The dish does taste good. It would have been even sweeter if I had topped it marshmallows, which is what my husband ate as a child. But this one is topped with caramelized apples, which still have a little bite to them.
The jury is still out. Dinner isn’t for another 2 hours.
In the meantime, here is the recipe. If you love your sweet potatoes SWEET, you will love this! If not, you might want to cut the sugar in the recipe a bit, and allow the sweet potatoes to speak for themselves.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Apples
In this sweet potato recipe, caramelized apples replace the traditional marshmallows, adding a delicious twist on an old favorite.
Sweet Potatoes
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1 cup whole milk or half-and-half
6 Tbs butter
4 Tbs light-brown sugar
Apple Topping
3 Macintosh or Gala apples
3 Tbs brown sugar
3 Tbs butter
Coarse salt, to taste
- Set a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Place sweet potatoes in steamer basket and cover; steam until tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain, and return to saucepan.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half-and-half, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes, and mash just until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apple wedges and brown sugar; cook about 10 minutes, turning apples occasionally, until lightly browned on both sides.
- Place on top of sweet potatoes and bake 30 minutes, until heated through. (Note: If refrigerating before baking, cook an additional 15 minutes, or until heated through.)
Servings: 8
This sounds delicious. I’ll bet steaming the sweet potatoes preserves their flavor better than boiling them. Why didn’t I think of that?
Hi Daisy – it ended up being a perfect compliment to the meal. Even my mom (who doesn’t eat sweets or dessert – gasp!) loved them. Thanks for visiting the blog
Happy Holidays!