Sunday, November 18, 2007

From Ima's Kitchen - Cranberries and Sweet Potatoes


As promised yesterday, the recipe for the Bourbon-Spiked Cranberry relish (pictured above) can be found by clicking the link. It's from the folks at Farm to Philly, a group of folks who encourage eating locally.

Since I've never actually made the Bourbon-Spiked Cranberry relish, I wanted to give you a recipe for something I have made. A little history, first. We've always served sweet potatoes because my dad likes them. Sometimes, they'd be doctored up a little bit but they mostly went uneaten. One year, I found my ex-mother-in-law's recipe for sweet potato casserole and thought I'd give it a try. It couldn't hurt - after all, sweet potatoes were mostly ignored at our house.

It was really good. It disappeared. I've had to double the recipe in the years since to keep up with the demand. As you can see from the recipe, it's kind of like getting one of the desserts early.

Sweet Potato Casserole
Casserole
3 cups sweet potatoes
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
dash of cinnamon (I add a bit more)

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup nuts (I use pecan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Heat the sweet potatoes to boiling, then drain. Mix the potatoes, 1/2 cup melted butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon to a smooth consistency and put in a baking dish.

In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, flour and nuts together. Spread evenly on top of sweet potato mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Keep an eye on it so your nuts don't burn. You may need to lay a sheet of aluminum foil on top of it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We call it Sweet Potatoe Pone - I am in charge of making it every year. Yum! My son is not much of a vegetable eatter, but he will gladly devour this.

Ima Wurdibitsch said...

Is it the same recipe or do you do it a little differently? I love to cook and really enjoy getting new ideas.

Anonymous said...

Very slightly different - no salt or cinnamon in the potatoes, but 1 teaspoon baking soda. I also only use 1/2 cup nuts on the top - we're not huge nut eatters.

I am a big baker - breads, cookies, cakes, etc. I also seem to have a large collection of Jello salad recipes - always a guaranted eat for the kids, and everything really does go better with Jello! I have a great recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatballs if you are ever interested - tomato juice, vinegar, and gingersnaps in the sauce - mmm.

Tasina said...

I think I might actually use your EXACT recipe and make my husband make it. I'll highlight the part that says, "keep an eye on it so your nuts don't burn." Because how many times in life can you legitimately say that to a guy??? ;)

Marcia said...

Love the recipe for the cranberry relish!! Yummo!!

Ima Wurdibitsch said...

Driving, the meatballs recipe sounds just odd enough to be delicious. I'd love the recipe.

Tasina, I thought about posting an apology to the guys who read the blog but I'm glad I left it open for you to use!

Marcia, I'm really excited about trying this relish. I'm going to convert the canned cranberry eaters!