Kat, this one's for you.
Nov. 16th, 2009 10:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
distractionary in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomSo I've been meaning to post this for ... about a month, I think. At least. Um. Oops?
This is the recipe for my dad's sweet potato souffle, which is not ... really ... the same as his mother's version. Both (and a half) are included here. This is vegetarian if your working definition does not exclude eggs or butter.
As he sent it to me:
I've made this a few times; I personally prefer the peel-chunk-boil method, although my dad usually does the bake-and-scoop version whenever I'm in that part of the country to watch him. I don't know if he's ever made it with canned potatoes; I haven't.
I have, so far, only tried making it with the sweet spices. I've eaten his savory version, though, and it's delicious.
This is about eight million times better than baked sweet potatoes with marshmallows on them, in my opinion. (Admittedly my opinion is that marshmallows belong in s'mores and cocoa and nowhere else, but still.)
In an eight-inch-square casserole dish, this forms a souffle that's about two to three inches deep; it probably won't serve more than eight people, unless you're serving people who really don't like sweet potatoes but will put some on their plates out of guilt. If you're serving people who, like Kat and me and my dad and certain others I know, really really like sweet potato, you're lucky if this serves four... and it won't leave leftovers.
So you might want to double up the recipe, at that point. Especially if you have a larger casserole dish than this.
This can also be mixed ahead and baked later, although considering the egg you probably don't want to leave it unrefrigerated for very long. If you're mixing the egg with hot sweet potato (from baking or boiling), I think that cooks it enough to give you slightly more of a safe time, but I am not a food scientist or health inspector so please don't take my word for it.
(My dad usually doesn't transport it free of final bake or refrigeration for more than half an hour's drive, at any rate.)
This is the recipe for my dad's sweet potato souffle, which is not ... really ... the same as his mother's version. Both (and a half) are included here. This is vegetarian if your working definition does not exclude eggs or butter.
As he sent it to me:
Here is my mother's original recipe, from her 1967 Serendipity cookbook6 cups cooked sweet potatoes
1 c sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp grated orange rind
3 eggs
Whip all ingredients in electric mixer. Put into greased casserole and bake 375 degrees about 30-40 minutes, depending on depth of container.
I follow this in general terms, except I usually use about 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of the white sugar; I melt the butter beforehand; instead of the nutmeg / orange rind combination I use either 2 tsp or so total of miscellaneous sweet spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice) OR 2 tsp or so total of miscellaneous savory spices (smoked garlic, herbes de provence, etc.).
This works well using fresh sweet potatoes, split in half, baked at 350 for an hour, and then scooped from the shell; fresh sweet potatoes, peeled, chunked, boiled for 30 minutes or until tender; or canned sweet potatoes, straight from the can.
Enjoy!
I've made this a few times; I personally prefer the peel-chunk-boil method, although my dad usually does the bake-and-scoop version whenever I'm in that part of the country to watch him. I don't know if he's ever made it with canned potatoes; I haven't.
I have, so far, only tried making it with the sweet spices. I've eaten his savory version, though, and it's delicious.
This is about eight million times better than baked sweet potatoes with marshmallows on them, in my opinion. (Admittedly my opinion is that marshmallows belong in s'mores and cocoa and nowhere else, but still.)
In an eight-inch-square casserole dish, this forms a souffle that's about two to three inches deep; it probably won't serve more than eight people, unless you're serving people who really don't like sweet potatoes but will put some on their plates out of guilt. If you're serving people who, like Kat and me and my dad and certain others I know, really really like sweet potato, you're lucky if this serves four... and it won't leave leftovers.
So you might want to double up the recipe, at that point. Especially if you have a larger casserole dish than this.
This can also be mixed ahead and baked later, although considering the egg you probably don't want to leave it unrefrigerated for very long. If you're mixing the egg with hot sweet potato (from baking or boiling), I think that cooks it enough to give you slightly more of a safe time, but I am not a food scientist or health inspector so please don't take my word for it.
(My dad usually doesn't transport it free of final bake or refrigeration for more than half an hour's drive, at any rate.)