As a cook I'm always trying new twists and interesting takes on things, and I had to check my self-criticism in regard to the way I make sweet potatoes. I love them, and they're very nutritious. and every year I prepare them in one of two ways both with chipotles, and always as an extra dish I can put out without any work.
I had been racking my brains trying to think of a new way to include sweet potatoes. . . . until an annual eater at my thanksgiving feast checked in to make sure I would be making my chipotle sweet potatoes.
And all the pressure just went away. As a cook I'm always striving to strike a balance between keeping it interesting without getting wacky and giving the people comfort food to remember.
It's a fine line.
Here are my two super easy sweet potato recipes:
The first is to melt one tablespoon of butter and one teaspoon of salt, with two tablespoons of adobo (the sauce the chipotles are in). Cut the sweet potatoes into about 2 inch cross sections.
Lay down a little of the chipotle butter, set the sweet potatoes, and some more butter on top.
Roast in the oven (375ish) for about 25 min. or until they are "fork tender"
This takes very little time, even for large numbers of people.
They get beautifully browned.
The second is a mash.
4 Sweet potatoes
3 tbsps butter
2 tbsps Adobo suace
1 Chipotle pepper, chopped
1. Rub the sweet potatoes with oil and salt and roast in the oven (375ish) for around 40 minutes or until "fork tender". (They're delicious just like this by the way, plain and simple)
2. Allow to cool slightly, peel off the skin and crush with butter, adobo sauce and one chopped chipotle.
Some browning where the sweet potato is in contact with the pan is fine.
These reheat beautifully.
For me they'll go down in history as one of my favorite midnight snacks.
