Just Jennifer

Sweet Potatoes: Roasted, Loaded, Fried, and Made into Pie by Mary-Frances Heck

Sweet potatoes often get a bum rap, prepared as the ubiquitous and gratuitous mashed, marshmallow covered dish on many Thanksgiving tables.  This cloyingly sweet dish, however does a disservice to the complex tasting, nutrient packed tuber.  Sweet potatoes are available year round, come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, from the most widely known orange fleshed to a white fleshed and a purple fleshed.  While these root vegetables are a perfect vehicle for almost any flavor, they lend themselves particularly well to citrus, more aromatic herbs and spices such as cayenne, cinnamon, garlic, and ginger, and also blend well with many proteins, dairy, meat and poultry, and nuts and seeds.  Heck takes cooks through a variety of ways to prepare sweet potatoes beginning with the basics: steaming, roasting, puree, and French fries, and then moves on to appetizers with big (and sometimes surprising flavors): Veggie Temaki, and buffalo seasonings. Soups and stews include sweet potatoes were traditional white potatoes are found, Chicken and dumplings, chowders, and with braised sausage and beans.  Side dishes, salads, and main dishes each offer new ideas for uses and will have home cooks thinking “where else can I use sweet potatoes?” The Brad and Baked Goods section uses sweet potato puree for the basis of a very tender, structured dough (yeast and quick) that can be turned into a variety of baked goods.  Sweet potatoes will add extra nutrition to chocolate babka and cinnamon rolls, and make the basis of a galette that will be a vehicle for a variety of toppings, sweet, and savory.  Where will sweet potatoes turn up in your cooking next?

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.