Question re: Sweet Potato Casserole w/ Praline toppping

[Abby]

I've decided to make this for Thanksgiving but would like to make it the evening before. The recipe states to make the praline mixture and add 1 cup of it to the potatoes then pour the rest on top. For those of you who have made this, if you were to make it the evening before, would you go ahead and pour the remaining topping on the casserole or wait 'til the next day right before baking? Or is this even a good casserole to make ahead?

[rpysher]

Hi Abbie,
I made this recipe last year and it was very good. Not sure how to direcet you, but I think you will be ok adding the praline topping on the top of your casserole the night before. I made the recipe the same day but we did have leftovers, and it tasted great the next day.
Robin

[Laura]

I don't even like sweet potatoes and I like this. If I am not mistaken, CL had this in their make ahead supplement last year. While I have never made it the day before I have made it early in the morning and everything turned out fine. I don't think there is a problem putting the topping on the night before.

[Liz K]

I made this casserole last year. I made it the night before and put the topping on. Turned out fine. In fact, my family has requested that I make it again this year.

[Chefzhat]

Abby - or anyone else - can you post this recipe?? I tried a search and came up with zip and would LOVE to serve this on Thanksgiving!!

Thanks for your help!

gobble gobble
Debie

[KelLeg]

I found the recipe by doing a search in the Recipe Finder. Here it is:

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup stick margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and halved (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg white
1 (5-ounce) can fat-free evaporated milk
Cooking spray


Directions
Estimated Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring to form a streusel. Set aside. Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until very tender. Drain well; mash in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup streusel, granulated sugar, vanilla, egg white, and milk. Spoon into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray; top with remaining streusel. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.



PS--Thanks for the question about making it ahead! I want to do this also.

[Jessica]

One caveat about this recipe: I made it a couple weeks ago for a Thanksgiving potluck, and everyone raved. However, I thought it was too sweet. I think I would leave out the extra 1/2 c white sugar next time.

It is VERY sweet.

Happy Turkey Day :)

[Ktw]

I have made this recipe a few times now and found that making it the night before works well, but saving the topping for the following day is best. Just my two cents!

It's a great recipe and I don't think it is too sweet. I think it is perfect. Enjoy!

[tammy/MN]

that recipe sounds similar to the spiced sw potato casserole that was in nov mag. had anyone by chance made this one to compare the 2?

it calls for 2T of oj concentrate which i hate-for some reason i don't like oj in anything other than a glass. do you think it would be a biggy to leave it out?

thanks tammy

[aliwally]

I am too planning on making this for Thanksgiving, and will also be preparing it the night before - but my question is about the toasted pecans. I bought a bag of Planters pecan pieces - do I need to put them in the oven and toast - or are they ready to go from the bag? ;)

[laurenc]

aliwally - I think that the pecans would have as intense a flavor if they are not toasted. I have never tried to substitute plain nuts for toasted though. I am also planning on making this for thanksgiving and would be interested in hearing other peoples opinions as well.

[Jewel]

I have NEVER tried a sweet potato...I'm a potato fiend, but something about those yellowish-orange things just grossed me out, and I've never tried a bite in all of my 39 Thanksgivings. I know they're good for me, providing much more nutrition than the standard russet, so tell me the truth: Would this recipe help me like Sweet Potatoes?? :eek: I love all of the ingredients except the potato!

[aliwally]

I had never had sweet potato until I lived in Miami back in 1988 (I'm a Brit, and we don't have sweet potatoes in the UK) - and it was love at first bite. But, that's because I have an incredible sweet tooth and love everything sweet. I don't think it's that the potato itself is sweet, but all the ingredients that go with it are.

My first intro to sweet potatoes was a casserole, at Thanksgiving, with, you guessed it, marshmallows as one of the toppings. Heaven - I ate a plate of it for days! Now it's clear that marshmallows aren't everyone's favorites - but I like a bit of texture in my casserole which is why I'll be trying the praline topping.

I don't have an easy answer for you - but gosh, you have to try at least one bite - it won't kill you! And it's not like I'm asking you to try monkey brain or anything.

Enjoy!!!

[amcleod]

For our supper club yesterday, the theme was "Holiday Run-Through" and I made three different Sweet Potatoes to help me decide which to make for Thanksgiving. I made:

Spiced SP Casserole (nov '01)
Vanilla SPs (Nov '00 i think)
SP Casserole w/Praline Topping (CL Complete)

Most supper clubbers voted for the SP w/praline, and I liked that the best too. All of them were good. I liked the Spiced SP least. However, it is all personal taste as someone liked that one the best.

My DH voted for the Vanilla SPs because he "doesn't like" pecans. I think I may just do the SP w/pralines but make half with the praline mixture and half without, because I liked that one so much. I have leftovers of all three and will have some tonight and make a final decision. (Me, make a decision before the last minute??! Yeah, right.)

Tammy, the OJ really comes thru in the Spiced SP Casserole. I don't think I cared for it all that much. I would probably leave it out, because then the other flavors would be more apparent (nutmeg & cinnamon if I remember correctly).

Anyways, hope this helped!

[Chefzhat]

Thanks for posting the recipe! I must be retarded - I tried the recipe search again and it worked this time.

Off to the grocery store I go . . . I'm going to use walnuts instead of pecans because I can't stand pecans. Hope that works as well.


Debie

[KelLeg]

Jewel--do you like pumpkin or butternut squash? They taste very similar to sweet potatoes. I love them! You should at least try a bit to see!

[Liz K]

Jewel, this casserole made me like sweet potatoes. It was my first time to contribute a dish to the giant family Thanksgiving dinner and several people have requested it again this year. Like mentioned above, I plan to cut out some of the extra sugar.

[Little Bit]

I'd say this casserole is a wonderful intro to the world of sweet potatoes, but you might also try some just roasted in their jackets in a hot oven. (***** them with a fork so they don't burst.) Divine! Of course, I do adore them with tons of butter and salt and pepper.

I think sweet potatoes are wonderfully sweet all by themselves, but love them with sugar too! :o

[Peggy]

Ok, I'm sold! I despice sweet potatoes (goes with my butternut squash aversion), but I have been asked to bring sweet potatoes to a friend's Thanksgiving Dinner Party. I am so impressed by all of the positive comments on this recipe, that I will definately give it a try. I might even taste it...:eek:
Thanks for pointing this one out. With my self-imposed limited experience with sweet potatoes, I was at a loss on what to make.

Peggy

[tammy/MN]

Originally posted by amcleod
[B

Most supper clubbers voted for the SP w/praline, and I liked that the best too. All of them were good. I liked the Spiced SP least. However, it is all personal taste as someone liked that one the best.



Tammy, the OJ really comes thru in the Spiced SP Casserole. I don't think I cared for it all that much. I would probably leave it out, because then the other flavors would be more apparent (nutmeg & cinnamon if I remember correctly).

Anyways, hope this helped! [/B]

ann, thanks for the review, it came right before i left to do groceries, so i changed from the spiced to the praline & hope for the best!

how about those leftover reviews! tammy

[SueK]

Jewel- I agree with the others that the SP casserole with praline topping could convert you. I never liked sweet potatoes either---my mom would always just open a can, heat them, plunk them in a dish and I thought they looked disgusting. Once I made this casserole, I got rid of my aversion to it. Even the kids gobbled it up at Christmas dinner last year!

[amcleod]

Tammy, glad my SP contest helped! You definitely can't go wrong with the SP w/Praline topping. I am not so sure the spiced would go over as well with every single person.

After having leftovers last night, I just may do the Vanilla SPs. I still really like the SP w/Praline but since DH wanted the Vanilla and they tasted REALLY good as leftovers, I just may do that. And since they get cooked in the microwave and my oven is small, it might be a bit easier. Of course, I never can make a decision so I probably won't decide until the last minute!

[Molli526]

Originally posted by amcleod


My DH voted for the Vanilla SPs because he "doesn't like" pecans. I think I may just do the SP w/pralines but make half with the praline mixture and half without, because I liked that one so much.



I don't think the SP w/praline would be the same w/o the praline. Maybe you could just make some praline and sprinkle it on a servng for you ?

[Jewel]

Originally posted by KelLeg
Jewel--do you like pumpkin or butternut squash? They taste very similar to sweet potatoes. I love them! You should at least try a bit to see!

I'm embarrassing myself again, but I've never tasted any kind of squash except for canned pumpkin. :eek: Just the name turned me off for years! I grew up a VERY picky eater, and would rarely try new things. My drug-of-choice when I was very heavy was Mexican Food, because generally the only veggie you had to deal with was lettuce or tomato. Back then I picked the 'green things' (chiles!) out! I used onion powder, not onions...that type of thing! I'm slowly but surely adding veggies to my 'like' list, but I like crisper veggies (broccoli, green beans, lightly steamed asparagus, corn, green or red bell peppers, etc) as opposed to 'limp' veggies (greens, spinach, eggplant, etc). I've always loved potatoes in any way, so maybe this 'mashed' casserole will introduce me to sweet potatoes! I'll try this before I'll try squash! DH won't stop, however, until he has me eating squash, okra (blech!!!! slimy!!!), and spinach. That dork was dancing around the kitchen the day I finally had some cabbage cooked into my stirfry! :rolleyes: (sigh!)

Thanks for the gentle nudge...I may make this for our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday! ;)

[tammy/MN]

could you bake the casserole w/ the praline today & reheat it tomorrow for turkey day?

[BarbaraL]

I love sweet potatoes, butternut squash and pumpkin, so I can't wait to try these dishes! For everyday, I follow the example of the LoneStar restaurant near us -- they serve a wonderful baking sweet potato covered with butter and brown sugar! Strangely, I'd never considered baking (or, actually, microwaving) a sweet potato; now I do it all the time. Naturally, I don't put all the butter and sugar on that they do (sometimes leave off the sugar and just have salt and pepper), but it's sooo good.

[Peggy]

This recipe was soooo good! An amazing comment coming from an established sweet potato hater. I made this to take to a friend's for Thanksgiving and everyone raved about it. It still had the funny texture of sweet potatoes, but the flavors were so good I was able to get past it. Thanks for pointing this recipe out!

Peggy

[sneezles]

Peggy,
I, too, have always despised sweet potatoes (and especially ones with those little marshmallows). I have done this recipe for the past 3 years but I bake my potatoes first (scrub, coat with olive oil and roast for about 45-55 minutes at 400º). The consistency is much smmother. And I realized for the first time that I have been using a whole egg instead of just the white so that may help with the consistency as well.

[HDgirl]

I made this and converted a non-sp eater!!! I used 1T instead of the 1/2C sugar and forgot the butter and had to pour it on top of the casserole (can't believe I did that). Everyone loved it.

It's already been requested for Xmas.