Six-Word Saturday: 25 Iyar, 5770

The secret of the sweet potatoes!

Far be it from me to disappoint a loyal reader (see comments section) by failing to provide the tedious minutiae of how we cook sweet potatoes. So here it is!

This recipe hinges on Cheapo Teriyaki Sauce, a surprisingly good stand-in for the real thing… and at $2-3 for a bottle of the real thing, far more affordable in quantity, which is how I like my teriyaki.

Cheapo Teriyaki Sauce

• 1/4 cup nice soy sauce – I use shoyu
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp garlic purée – I’m using jarred puréed garlic right now – Ontario garlic – because fresh and local is nearly impossible to find at the moment
• water: mix the above in a measuring cup and then add water to make 1 cup of sauce
• ginger: I imagine ginger could be added to give it zing. I hope to do this next time.
• Stir vigourously. Can be boiled briefly to dissolve the sugar and give it a smoother texture.

Now for the sweet potatoes.

I resolved not long ago that anyone who does anything other than roast root vegetables is nuts. They are so sweet and perfect and delicious roasted, so that’s what we do most of the time now.

This is a variation on a recipe that originally called for deep-frying the sweepoes first: what a lot of work that was! This is easy, in comparison, and you can do a ton of things in the background while they roast.

• Peel and cube 2-3 sweepoes into 1-2” chunks
• Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper.
• Add sweepoes to a pan with 2-3” sides at least so the sauce doesn’t make a mess later.
• Toss the pan in a 350-400° oven, stirring every 10-15 minutes until mostly soft in the middle and slightly browned on the outside (not too done, or they’ll turn to mush later)
• The temperature range is because I often do these at the same time as baking something else in the oven… just check them more frequently if the oven is hotter.
• When “done” – ie mostly cooked through – pour Cheapo Teriyaki Sauce over the sweepoes.
• Bake at 375°, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until sweepoes are sticky and delicious. At this time of year, I usually just close them up in the oven and set it on Cook & Hold, to go off shortly after Shabbos begins.
• Arrange in an attractive serving dish and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds for a nice “bonus” taste and texture. Or, add to individual plates and then sprinkle them (no point mixing the seeds in because nobody will notice them in the black sauce).

I wish I had a picture to share, but you’ll just have to imagine dark, sticky, delicious sweet potatoes! Mmm…