Sweet Potatoes Part 1: Mashed
Let's talk about sweet potatoes! Filling, nutritious, delicious (and cheap!) Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite fall foods. Great for adults and children alike, I remember how astounded (and jealous) my wife was when our baby boy greedily ate my sweet potato mash. Her astonishment quickly changed to enthusiasm as she understood why he liked them so much! Sweet potatoes are aptly named as they indeed have a lot of natural sugars in them, plus a great flavor that only needs a little flourish to stand out like a star.
In this three-part post we will talk about three simple ways to cook sweet potatoes for your family, that your kids can help with too!
Mashed Sweet Potato- Baked whole
What you will need
4 Whole, even sized sweet potatoes
1 Cup Salt (Kosher is preferred)
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Butter
This is by far my favorite method to make roast sweet potato mash. I learned to make this recipe in my career as a chef and people are always surprised by how easy and how little you have to do to make these bad boys delicious! You can have moist, hearty potatoes without excessive amounts of cream butter and salt!
Kid Friendly Instructions
* Pre-Heat Oven to 450 degrees
1. First, were going to wash the potatoes and trim the “whiskers” by pulling them off. I like to let my kids pat them dry and take off the whiskers as sweet potatoes are very durable and will take the abuse. We won’t be using the skin in this recipe, however I like to remove any dirt and grit as it could get into the flesh of the potato upon peeling.
2. Then, take a copious amount of salt and pour it on your roasting pan. I like to let the kids do this as well- its fun, and it allows them to do one of their favorite things -dumping my precious ingredients out- in a productive and controlled manner. Kosher salt is best, but table salt will do. You only need a thin but substantial layer of salt to lay the potatoes on. Don’t worry about waste, as you can recycle the same salt over and over again when you use this method again. The purpose of the salt is that it sucks excess moisture out of the potato, allowing the high heat to caramelize the sugars and really bring out the flavor.
3. Place the roasting pan in the oven on high heat- 450 degrees and let roast for about 20-30 minutes. Different size potatoes will take different amounts of time to cook, so selecting evenly sized sweet potatoes is key. When a knife passes easily through the flesh of the sweet potato, you know that it is done. You may see browned caramelized juices, another indicator.
4. Take the potatoes out of the oven and slit down the middle and allow to rest. The skin of the sweet potato should separate easily from the flesh of the potato.
5. After it has cooled enough to handle, remove the flesh of the potato from the skin and into a pot and mash. Add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of butter and you will be ready to go! A dash of cinnamon or vanilla extract can go a long way in amping up the flavor. In the restaurant we would use vanilla compound butter...a nice touch, but by no means necessary.
Enjoy!
Stay Tuned!
Next we’ll make these scrumptious sweet potato fries!
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