Thanksgiving 101 (19 page)
Authors: Rick Rodgers
4.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake until the potatoes are heated through, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot, sprinkled with the chives, if using.
Candied Yam and Marshmallow Casserole 101
I wonder how many sweet potato and marshmallow casseroles are trotted out every Thanksgiving? This dish is so entrenched in the American psyche that it seems centuries old—surely sweet potatoes were served at the first Thanksgiving. Although candied yams had been popular for years, in the 1920s cooks began to top them with marshmallows. Personally, I prefer yams that aren’t so sweet, but I know I’m in the minority.
- Many cooks use canned yams in syrup to make their casseroles. If you prefer a less sweet version, use freshly cooked yams. Cook 3½ pounds (about 5 medium) yams in lightly salted water just until barely tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Do not overcook them—they will cook further in the oven. Drain well, rinse under cold water until easy to handle, then peel and cut into 1-inch chunks.
- It is best to
broil
the marshmallow topping onto the yams just before serving. If the weather is humid and the casserole is allowed to stand, the browned marshmallows can melt into syrup. If you put the marshmallows on the casserole and accidentally overbake it (which can happen in the flurry of kitchen activity), the marshmallows can also dissolve. I learned this firsthand the time I popped my sister-in-law’s sweet potato casserole into the oven, and when I came back, found that the marshmallows had disappeared! Even though we jokingly served it as “yams with marshmallow sauce,” Linda never let me near her yams again.
Makes 8 to 12 servings
Make Ahead: The yams can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead.
Two 40-ounce cans yam (sweet potato) chunks in light syrup, drained
1
/3 cup packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons (½ stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup water
2½ cups miniature marshmallows (about 5 ounces)
1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9 × 13-inch baking dish.
2.
Spread the yams in the prepared dish. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, then dot with the butter and drizzle with the water. (The yams can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, stored in a cool place.)
3.
Bake, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and bubbling, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Position the broiler rack 6 inches from the source of heat and preheat the broiler.
4.
Spread the marshmallows on top of the yams. Broil until the marshmallows are lightly toasted, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Rum-Baked Yams and Apples
Rows of yams, with apples interspersed throughout, make this an especially good-looking side dish. If you don’t want to serve rum to the kids, substitute more cider.
Makes 8 to 12 servings
Make Ahead: The casserole can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead.
2 Golden Delicious apples
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 medium orange-fleshed yams (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into ½-inch slices
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1½ cups apple cider
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1.
Peel the apples and cut into quarters. Cut out the cores, then cut each apple quarter crosswise into ½-inch thick wedges. Place in a medium bowl and toss with the lemon juice; set aside.
2.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the yams and cook just until crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not overcook. They should hold their shape when drained. Drain and rinse under cold running water.
3.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Overlapping in vertical rows, arrange the yams in the prepared dish, slipping the apple wedges between the yams, letting the curved edges of the apples peek out.
4.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cider, brown sugar, and rum. Bring to a boil. In a small bowl, sprinkle the cornstarch over 2 tablespoons cold water and mix until dissolved. Stir into the boiling cider mixture and return to the boil; the mixture will be very thick, but it will thin during baking. Pour over the yams and apples. (The dish can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, cooled, covered tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerated.)
5.
Bake, basting occasionally, until the yams are tender and the cooking liquid is syrupy, about 45 minutes. Serve hot.
It Wouldn’t Be Thanksgiving Without…Marshmallows
The roots of the marshmallow plant (
Althaea offícinalis
) were used to make a homemade confection that took the plant’s name. When confectioners developed a mass-produced version around the turn of the century, they switched to corn syrup and egg whites to create the bouncy consistency of the original. It didn’t take long for marshmallows to establish themselves as a truly American food, spawning such offspring as Marshmallow Fluff and a range of marshmallow-filled, chocolate-coated cookies. While their sweetness is appropriate in dessert icons like Rice Krispies Treats and S’Mores, their presence in gelatin salads, fruit salads, and sweet potato casseroles is truly a testament to the tenacity of the American sweet tooth.
Scalloped Yams with Praline Topping
This is one of my favorite dishes to demonstrate how yams don’t have to be cloyingly sweet to be good. Whenever I make it, it never fails that someone remarks, “I don’t even like yams, but I could eat a whole dish of these!”
Makes 8 to 12 servings
Make Ahead: The yams can be parboiled and placed in their baking dish up to 8 hours before baking; the praline topping can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead.
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1
/3 cup (about 2 ounces) finely chopped pecans
6 medium orange-fleshed yams, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds (about 3 pounds)
1½ cups heavy cream, heated
1.
In a small bowl, using your fingers, work the flour, brown sugar, and butter together until well combined, then work in the pecans. Set aside. (The praline topping can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, stored at room temperature.)
2.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the yams and cook just until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook. They should be able to hold their shape when drained. Drain and rinse under cold running water.
3.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 9 × 13-inch baking dish.
4.
Overlapping in vertical rows, place the yams in the prepared dish. (The yams can be parboiled and placed in their baking dish up to 8 hours before baking, covered tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerated.)
5.
Pour the heavy cream over the yams. Bake for 20 minutes. Crumble the pecan mixture over the yams and continue baking until the yams are tender and the topping is browned, 20 to 30 more minutes. Serve hot.
It Wouldn’t Be Thanksgiving Without…Sweet Potatoes (Yams)
Life used to be so simple. When Thanksgiving rolled around, there was only one kind of sweet potato to be found. It had a light brown skin, and was orange on the inside. Sometimes it was called a yam. No one but botanists knew the difference between the true sweet potato and the orange-fleshed yam, and no one cared.
Times change. One year, during my annual Thanksgiving cooking class marathon at ten schools from Seattle down to Long Beach, I wrote, “10 pounds sweet potatoes” on the
shopping list that was sent ahead to each school. When I arrived, every grocer provided sweet potatoes, all right—but they were the true sweet potato, sometimes called
batata
or
boniato
, beloved by Latino and Japanese cooks. I guess I should have asked for yams.
Let’s straighten out the situation, as best as possible. When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, he found the natives eating a yellow-fleshed tuber, the
batata
. It was brought back to Europe, where it gained some popularity as a “potato.” Even Shakespeare mentions the potato, but he was talking about the
batata
. When a white-fleshed tuber, originally from Ecuador or Peru, was introduced to the Old World in the 1500s, its resemblance to the yellow sweet potato was so strong that people began to call it a potato, too. As we know, the white potato became a staple of the European diet. It wasn’t until 1775 that “sweet potato” was entered into the
Oxford English Dictionary
, distinguishing it permanently from the white one. The potato established itself on tables throughout the world, while the farmers in the American South remained faithful to the sweet potato.
Yet another tuber was eaten by the Caribbean natives. The
igname
(ig-NYAM-eh) had a dark brown, almost black skin, pale flesh with streaks of gray-purple, and a bland flavor not unlike the white potato. Eventually, the
igname
found its way to Africa, where it was cultivated. When the African slaves were brought to America, they found the sweet potato, which they dubbed
igname
, as the two tubers resembled each other. Eventually,
igname
contracted to
yam
. In today’s Latino markets, you will find the
igname
, the “true” yam, labeled
name
or Colombian yam.
What most Americans call a yam is really a sugary sweet potato. True sweet potatoes are not very sweet at all. They cannot be substituted for the orange yam in our traditional Thanksgiving dishes, as they take too long to bake and taste quite starchy, like regular potatoes. The Louisiana yam, developed by the farmers of that state to be especially sweet, is the most familiar variety. Well-stocked produce markets also sell beautiful Garnet or Jewel yams with purple skins and deep orange flesh, which make wonderful substitutes for the tried-and-true Louisiana version. Yams should be stored in a cool, dark place, even the refrigerator, for no longer than 1 week. Even though they look like potatoes, they don’t have the same long-keeping qualities.
I doubt if you’ll ever send someone to the store to get yams, only to have them return with a bag full of
ignames
. On the other hand, it was only a few years ago that few Americans knew what cilantro was. In my multiethnic neighborhood, the supermarket carries Louisiana yams, sweet potatoes, true yams, and Jewels or Garnets during the holidays. Even supermarket produce sections mislabel sweet potatoes and yams. If you have any doubts, scratch the skin with your fingernail to check the color. You won’t easily mistake a
name
for the other two tubers, because it looks so different.
Cider-Mashed Yams
These yams take the mashed route, and deliciously. They also are one of the best low-fat side dishes around (welcome at a meal typically high in calories and fat grams), and the one to serve if you’re not a fan of overly sweet yams. In order to intensify the apple flavor, the cider is reduced by half, but you could use
1
/3 cup thawed frozen apple juice concentrate. If you wish, this dish is easy to marshallowize.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Make Ahead: The yams can be made up to 8 hours ahead.
2
/3 cup apple cider
5 large orange-fleshed yams (about 4½ pounds), scrubbed but unpeeled
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1.
In a small saucepan, boil the cider over high heat until reduced by half, about 7 minutes. Set aside.
2.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the yams and cook until tender, 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the yams. Drain well. Using a kitchen towel to protect your hands, peel the yams and return to the warm pot. Add the reduced cider, butter, brown sugar, and salt. Mash until well blended. (The mashed yams can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, cooled, covered tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerated. To reheat, spread in a buttered 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Cover loosely with aluminum foil, and bake in a preheated 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes. Serve from the baking dish.) Serve hot.
Mashed Yams with Marshmallows:
Spread half of the hot yams in a buttered 9 × 13-inch casserole. Sprinkle with ½ cups miniature marshmallows. Top with the remaining yams. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the top with another ½ cups marshmallows. Broil in a preheated broiler, about 4 inches away from the source of heat, until the marshmallows are lightly browned, about 1 minute. Serve immediately. (This casserole can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, made with cooled mashed yams, following the reheating instructions in the main recipe, and broiling the marshmallow topping just before serving.)
Maple-Glazed Roasted Yams
My motto could be “the simpler, the better.” Here’s a perfect example—all you do is roast some cubed sweet potatoes, then toss them with maple syrup and butter to glaze them at the end. That’s it, and you will still collect plenty of compliments. The only trick is being sure that your oven is free for the hour or so they take to roast to sweet, tender perfection.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Make Ahead: The yams can be cut 8 hours ahead, stored at room temperature. The yams are best roasted just before serving.