Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes with a streusel top...am I crazy?

[adrianna!!]

Will this work?

I want to make the Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes for Tgiving this year. All the sweet potato recipes I find for Tgiving are just the same old thing. Now, if anyone wants to throw out a unique sweet potato recipe..please, go ahead. I am willing to consider some others. But I do think our guests will enjoy the change of pace.

This is my question....do you think if I put a nutty, streusel-y topping on these it would be overkill? Would you modify the recipe in any way if you were going to put them in the oven in a baking dish? Maybe I should add eggs? Please brainstorm with me and make some suggestions. Thanksgiving is "my" holiday in the family so I like to do it up right! Thank you for any and all responses!

[AvrilH]

I cook sweets a lot, and my favorite quick way of doing it is simply to add a dash of cayenne (I would prefer chipotles, but can never find them), a splash of maple syrup, and then top with chopped pecans and another bit of syrup. The spicy heat is terrific.

[sneezles]

Two of my favorite recipes are:

Sweet Potato Gratin with Smoked Chiles

This dish is close to aphrodisical. As it bakes, the heavy cream is absorbed by the potatoes, so the gratin is firm, not creamy or soupy. The chipotle pepper adds a surprising jolt of spice.

Ingredients:

4 cups heavy cream
1 canned chipotle pepper
6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a blender, puree the cream and chipotle until smooth.

In a 10x10 inch casserole, arrange a fourth of the sweet potatoes, season to taste with salt and pepper, and pour a fourth of the cream over all. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and cream, forming 4 layers. May be prepared up to this point one half-hour ahead, covered, and refrigerated.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the cream has been absorbed and the potatoes are browned. May be prepared up to 1 day ahead, covered, and refrigerated.

To serve, reheat in a 350 F. oven for 12 minutes. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Adapted from Bold American Food by Bobby Flay.

This one from Bon Appetit last year was wonderful and the mushrooms can easily be omitted. Adding a bit of chipotle would be great and I might just have to try that myself this year!

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH MUSHROOMS AND SHALLOTS

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1/4 cup low-salt chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
10 large shallots, peeled, halved through root end
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
8 ounces large fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps quartered

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Whisk chicken or vegetable broth, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar in small bowl. Mix sweet potatoes, shallots, bay leaves, and 1 tablespoon marjoram in large bowl. Pour half of broth mixture over and toss; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss mushrooms, 1 tablespoon marjoram, and remaining broth mixture in medium bowl; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Spread sweet potato mixture on baking sheet. Roast until potatoes begin to soften, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Mix in mushrooms. Return to oven; roast until potatoes and mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes longer. Transfer to bowl. Mix in parsley and 1 teaspoon marjoram.

Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Per serving: calories, 179; total fat, 7 g; saturated fat, 1 g; cholesterol, 0; fiber, 3 g

Bon Appétit
October 2003

Cooking for Health

[rosie_one]

I think it sounds tasty... I'd use the Jewel Spicy Pumpkin Cheesecake bars recipe as an idea source. Substitute the pumpkin part with your sweet potato, chipotle mixture.

Spicy Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
By Jewel

Crust:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ginger

Filling:
12 oz cream cheese (1.5 packages), softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground clove

Preheat oven to 350*. Generously grease 13" x 9" pan. Cream brown sugar and margarine. Add allspice, clove, nutmeg and ginger. With electric mixer on low, add Bisquick and nuts until mixture is crumbly. Reserve two cups. Press remaining mixture in pan with fingers. Bake 10 minutes.

Whisk cream cheese in electric mixer until smooth. Add sugars, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and clove and mix well until smooth. Pour mixture over crust in pan, and sprinkle with remaining two cups of crust mixture. Bake until center is set and top is golden, about 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting, serve well-chilled.
******
Jewel Notes -
editing to clarify:: Every time I've mixed cream cheese with other liquidy ingredients like eggs the cream cheese never 'blends' like it should and always stays in teeny chunks even if it's completely softened. I've found that if I smooth the cream cheese first in my KA (usually with the whisk) that it blends better when I add the eggs and other ingredients. That's why I say to whisk the cream cheese separately before adding the other ingredients.


Hmmm... sounds really good. If I didn't already have the bars on my T-day menu, I'd give it a try!

[adrianna!!]

Thanks! I wanted to post the CL recipe that I spoke of, but I do not know how to copy and paste it. But it is a very poular recipe on this board.

Sneezles-I am eyeing that gratin recipe...looks great!

rosie_one-That recipe looks good, too, but I am looking for a more side dishy type thing...not a dessert...although sometimes i make sweet potato recipes sweet enough to be considered dessert!

Avril-I agree..heat and sweet are a great combo!

[nowimcooking]

Okay, I am sure there has been a thread on this in the past, but this is the only one I can find.

I just realized that the recipe Adrianna was speaking of calls for an entire can of chipotles!!! Have people made this with success? That seems like a whole lot!

The Bobby Flay recipe looks awesome and I am debating which recipe to make for Thanksgiving....If I made the gratin I would just HAVE to put cheese on top, though! :)

[adrianna!!]

It is funny that you mention that...just recently...in the "Letters to the editor" section of CL, someone complained about CL's way of calling for chipotles. The recipes always call for a CAN of chipotles...but then if you read the directions of the recipe, it will say to use 2 chiles, and reserve the rest for later use.

I would love it if someone would post the recipe on this thread. Or I am sure you can go to the recipe section and search for it there. It is very good!

[CindyWeightWatcher]

This is the one I served last Thanksgiving...

* Exported from MasterCook *

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 18 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
14 cups cubed peeled sweet potato (about 5 -- (1-inch)
pounds)
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg -- lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chilled butter -- cut into small
pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place potato in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
3. Combine the half-and-half and next 4 ingredients (half-and-half through egg) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add potato to egg mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon potato mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
4. Combine flour and sugar in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add chilled butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans; sprinkle over potato mixture.
5. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes or until the topping is browned and the potatoes are thoroughly heated.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:
CALORIES 250 (23% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 2.4g, mono 2.5g, poly 1g); PROTEIN 3.3g; CARB 46.1g; FIBER 2.7g; CHOL 22mg; IRON 1.2mg; SODIUM 149mg; CALC 49mg

YIELD:
18 servings

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 85 Calories; 3g Fat (26.3% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 12mg Cholesterol; 96mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[newtricks]

Adrianna-
Here's the recipe for Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes.

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Recipe By :Cooking Light Magazine. October 2002. Page: 178.
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Sweet Potatoes

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 1/2 pounds cubed peeled sweet potato
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 can (7-ounce) chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided

1. Place potato in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until tender.

2. Drain and return potato to pan. Add half-and-half, butter, and juice; mash to desired consistency. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly.

3. Remove 2 chiles from can and chop; reserve remaining chiles and adobo sauce for another use. Stir chopped chiles, brown sugar, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon into potato mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup

[newtricks]

Adrianna-

I've made the streusel topped sweet potatoes that Cindy posted. They will, in fact, be on my Thanksgiving table. I definitely think you could combine the two recipes. I would tend toward adding chipotle to the streusel topped sweet potato recipe rather than adding a streausel topping to the chipotle mashed potato recipe because I'm not sure how the lime would taste. Also, because there is butter in the streusel you don't really need it mixed into the potatoes as well.

Just one tip if you do make this. To prep the sweet potatoes I simply roast them whole, instead of peeling, cubing, and boiling them. It's so much easier and I think it tastes better.

[BeachBum]

This is the 'non-sweet' sweet potato recipe that I made last year. Everyone really enjoyed the change.

Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onions

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Side Dish Vegetables


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 medium peeled sweet potatoes -- cut into 2-inch
pieces (about 2 1/4 pounds)
2 medium Vidalia or other sweet onions -- cut into 1-inch
pieces (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon garlic-pepper blend (such as Lawry's)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425º.

Combine all ingredients in a 13 × 9-inch baking dish, tossing to coat. Bake at 425º for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Serving Size: 1 cup

Source:
"Cooking Light, April 1997, p.127"
Copyright:
"© Cooking Light"
Yield:
"6 cups"
T(Baking Time):
"0:35"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 40 Calories; 5g Fat (100.0% calories from fat); 0g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 178mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Fat.

[Aubergine]

i'm envious that you have such adventurous eaters. my grown kids and i enjoy chipotles (in and out of sweet potatoes) but some of my guests would freak out if i served them at the holiday.

re: the cans, i find them in the mexican (or "imported" aisle/mexican & hispanic section) of my markets. i put the rest in a ball jar with the sauce and they last for months in the fridge, i just take one or two out for a recipe.

[Canice]

Originally posted by adrianna!!
It is funny that you mention that...just recently...in the "Letters to the editor" section of CL, someone complained about CL's way of calling for chipotles. The recipes always call for a CAN of chipotles...but then if you read the directions of the recipe, it will say to use 2 chiles, and reserve the rest for later use.

Did you see the letter a month or two before that? Where the woman had served a CL dish to company and, even though they all enjoy spicey food, they thought that one was too much? And the guest told her he'd had horrible indigestion later? Turned out she'd made the recipe with the entire can of chipotles? :eek: I see they're changing that in January; no more "one can...."