Back By Popular Demand

Updated on Friday, November 26, 2010 at 8:47PM by Stash

I've already gotten a dozen requests for my mom's sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving--which is the best food compliments out there.  It's nice knowing that my family's tradition is now tradition in other households.  For me, this annual side is more important than the bird with it's sweet, smooth texture and crunchy pecan topping.  As it comes out of the oven molten lava hot, I usually burn my tongue, but that's just part of the tradition.

The original 'Southern' version per se had twice as much sugar--which makes sense since that is the same demographic that puts marshmallows on top of the already-sweet tuber.  If you're into a marshmallow topping, don't feel bad about others judging you.  If it tastes good, who cares?

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Working on my Veg Cred

Friday morning is the worst morning of the week.  Waking up at 3:30 or 4:30 Monday is rough, but at least I'm not hungry.  I'm always painfully starving on Fridays because I never eat dinner on Thursday.  When you go home straight from the airport, and don't get to the front door until 10pm, what are you supposed to do?

Now that I'm hungry and have kitchen access again, I need to figure out what to make.  Something big and awesome.  Whatever it is, pork will make it better, but I should really start working on my veg cred again.  I've become too reliant on certain animals and cuisines.  Haven't had a sweet potato hash in awhile, so I go to the store with that in mind, and will figure out the rest there.

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The Entry That Never Made it - Gingered Sweet Potato Ravioli

The mac and cheese contest that you've become so familiar with, did not originally have a theme.  When the idea first came out, we were getting deep in boundless battle.  I played around with the idea of won ton ravioli for victory.  The day after, the rules were changed and the plan was adapted.

I've been really stubborn to give up the idea of mixing ginger, sweet potatoes, and coconut.  This is another vessel for those ingredients.  Won ton wrappers have an unbelievable number of uses and possibilities- don't be afraid to get creative.  They can be baked in cupcake tins to form crisp shells, stuffed, cut, folded, boiled, sauteed- easy stuff.

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Test Run - Sweet Potato Risotto

Sweet potato risotto- the dish I can never seem to get perfect.  I feel like it has so much potential, and even done poorly has decent flavor.  Why can't I go any farther with it?  Despite my own mishaps with the dish, I've been able to successfully market it to my vegetarian friends.  Due to popular demand, and a spin that made me like the dish a lot more, here is [finally] my sweet potato risotto.

The first time I made the dish, I made a 'classic' preparation, starting with a shallot and butter, then using chicken stock as the liquid.  It didn't suck.  It is however, extremely difficult to pair with.  I continued to make this preparation, adding garlic or other seasonings, for some time.

Months later a tropical twist hit- coconut milk for the liquid.  Don't need butter anymore, but have to season much more aggressively to cut through the thick flavor of coconut milk.  To accomplish this I started the pan with garlic and an insane amount of ginger.  The dish would then be finished with lime juice and zest to cut through.  This was pretty good.  The lime was key to the dish because there was a dire need for acid.

More time passes and the time to think about Thanksgiving arrives.  The last Thursday in November isn't Thanksgiving without sweet potatoes.  To keep Thanksgiving regional, I again ponder how to modify the dish.  I see an episode of Simply Ming where the master ingredients are ginger and cranberries.  Brilliant.

I make the dish for the last time, using fresh cranberries, which also add to the Thanksgiving ambiance.  Here is how to do it:

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