How to prepare sweet potatoes?

[s4one]

I want to start including sweet potatoes in my diet. I know I can bake them in the oven but for how long? Is there anything I can put on the potatoes?

[late]

They take longer than a white. Depends on size and temp... cook til soft.
Demerara sugar and butter are my fave.

[AnthonyG]

Sweet potatoes go realy well in a stew. After they have been cooking for a while they completely fall apart giving the stew some body.

Regards, Anthony

[Ekdog]

Microwave them. You'll use a lot less energy than you would if you used a conventional oven. Be sure to poke them with a fork first so they won't explode.

[scubagirl]

I slice them into big planks, put a little olive oil add some salt and garlic/rosemary seasoning. then bake @ 450 till done - they can cook down a quite a bit. Good Luck with this.

[mateo44]

I want to start including sweet potatoes in my diet. I know I can bake them in the oven but for how long? Is there anything I can put on the potatoes?

At Thanksgiving, I often make em just like mashed potatoes, then add brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Then bake them in the oven for a while...

[Ekdog]

At Thanksgiving, I often make em just like mashed potatoes, then add brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Then bake them in the oven for a while...

Yes! Nor will a shot of bourbon hurt that recipe in the least. ;)

[jamesstout]

peanut butter and dark chocolate also go well

[Joe Dog]

We use them like potatoes - boil them, let them cool a little bit and slip the skins of them, then mash 'em up and add butter/brown sugar and some salt. We also microwave them and roast them in the oven. You might need to add a little water to them - they are more dense than a potato but tastier and good for you.

[mateo44]

Yes! Nor will a shot of bourbon hurt that recipe in the least. ;)

+1

(In the potatoes will help, too! :p )

[s4one]

I am planning on baking mine, should I wrap them in foil first and put them on a sheet? I will probably use butter and salt, no sugar since its pretty sweet to start off with.

[aham23]

rape? i think you mean wrap !! :)

i find they take a bit less time to bake then white. i like mine pretty basic. take a small about of light butter and rub it in on the outside. then sprinkle some brown sugar on it. then wrape it in foil and back it at 350 to 400 for an hour for a normal size.

i am hungry now. later.

[s4one]

??? I did say wrap...

















































































ehehe ya I usually read my post but I was in a rush for that post..

[s4one]

By the way, I have to bake a normal size sweet potato for 1 hour?! I never baked potatoes before. Should I just squeeze it to see if its soft and ready?

[hjeand]

Cube, mix with olive oil and brown sugar until thinly coated. Put in a grill pan and grill for 10 - 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Delicious!
Hjeand

[va_cyclist]

At Thanksgiving, I often make em just like mashed potatoes, then add brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Then bake them in the oven for a while...

My wife does them this way, and also spreads shredded coconut on top. The kids love them.

[mateo44]

My wife does them this way, and also spreads shredded coconut on top. The kids love them.

Nice. Of course, it's common to put marshmallows on top. I've never been into that, but I bet the kids would like that, too.

[Pedal Wench]

I prefer not to wrap them in foil -- this way, they get a carmelized exterior, and a denser texture. DO put them on a foil-lined tray, because the sugary liquid will be very hard to remove from the oven or cookie sheet. I do them for about an hour at 400 -- the longer, the more carmelized and yummy they'll be.

[aham23]

poke it with a fork as it will be hot. if the fork goes through with little effort then its done. later.

[Terex]

I think many of you are confusing a sweet potato (a member of the potato family), with yams (not a member of the potato family). Yams are the very sweet ones that you put marshmallows and stuff on. A sweet potato is much like a regular potato, but can vary in color from white-ish to red, and that I like to slice, mix with olive oil and spices, and grill. Diced would be good too.

[mateo44]

I think many of you are confusing a sweet potato (a member of the potato family), with yams (not a member of the potato family). Yams are the very sweet ones that you put marshmallows and stuff on. A sweet potato is much like a regular potato, but can vary in color from white-ish to red, and that I like to slice, mix with olive oil and spices, and grill. Diced would be good too.

You're right. Now I wonder which I've been making all these years.

I make the same mistake when I confuse alligators and crocodiles, although I usually don't put marshmallows on either. :D

[mateo44]

This is interesting. It's from here:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-23-a.html

Yams in the U.S. are actually sweetpotatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweetpotato." The following information outlines several differences between sweetpotatoes and yams...

[FatguyRacer]

I've run them thru a mandonlin slicer and deep fried them, like french fries. Better to just microwave them like a reg pototoe and put on a little butter and brown sugar.

[Coyote!]

>>> then add brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon

. . .OR skip the cinnamon and add diced pecans!!! HoooHAAA! I'm having those this evening.

[mateo44]

or both?

(you only live once!)

[wabbit]

i love sweet potatoes...yams whatever.

I microwave them whole...and put butter/margarine on them when they're done.

[jamesstout]

yams are not the orange things, yams are huge and white and you can't get them in the USA

[mateo44]

yams are not the orange things, yams are huge and white and you can't get them in the USA

See post #22, above....

[telebianchi]

While I like the butter, brown sugar and marshmallows, my waistline does not. And I love me some sweet potato pie with a stick of butter, three eggs and 1/2 cup of bourbon.

There are lots of simple ways to make sweet potatoes that essentially are mixing them in 1/2 tsp olive oil with other veggies like corn, onions and the like. I use the microwave to get the potatoes half-cooked then slice & dice and sauté. Cut-up apples go great also if you want more sweetness and crunch.

Ginger, mace, allspice, thyme, and other spices & herbs go great. I'm not so keen on garlic with sweet potatoes even though I think garlic is one of the best foods ever.

One of the things I love about sweet potatoes (and squash like acorn, spaghetti & pumpkin fall into this category as well) is that they are very low in calories so your eyes think you are eating a lot but the caloric intake is not that much.

[GeoLes]

Just poke 'em with a fork to see if they are done. I like , butter, brown surgar and cinnemon on mine. I eat'em skins and all.

[genejockey]

I bake 'em at 400 until they're soft all the way through, then mash them with butter and just enough salt to bring the flavor up. Sometimes I'll add nutmeg.

Better than boiled, and no need to add any sugar.

[bkrownd]

I like the orange kind, but I recently switched to the kind that are white on the outside and purple on the inside. They're common here in Hawai'i. (Apparently they came here from Okinawa) The purple ones aren't as woody or fiberous, taste at least as good (not as bitter), and cook much faster. I'm not sure about the nutritional differences. I always boil either kind, which is faster than baking them, and cooks them much more evenly and to a better texture than the microwave.

[Blade-Runner]

I read in last month's Men's Health mag it's bad to boil any thing because boiling food drains the most nutrients vs all other forms of cooking..

[bkrownd]

Sure, the nutrients are often water-soluble, but I hate waiting an hour or more for the oven to do the same thing boiling does in 20 minutes, and they won't get burned boiling. I'm not going to cry over losing 10% or 20% of the vitamins. Of course, if you just dump the potatoes in the blender with the water they boiled in and spices and other goodies you'll get a sweet potato soup that contains all the vitamins. Score! Soup is a wonderful invention. I love sweet potato soup....and sweet potato pie...and sweet potato cassarole...and sweet potato stew...

[jamesstout]

I read in last month's Men's Health mag it's bad to boil any thing because boiling food drains the most nutrients vs all other forms of cooking..

so steam them

[chuckb]

Cut them up like french fries, coat lightly with olive oil and salt, add a little minced garlic. Bake at 350 F until soft in the middle and a little crispy on the outside. Delicious.

[Dubbayoo]

My grocer has ones you can microwave in a few minutes. I sprinkle Butter Buds on them.

[Roody]

They're great if you cook them like hash browns or american fries. Cut them in 1/2 inch cubes (am. fries) or shred them on a grater (hash browns). Fry them in butter or olive oil (enough to barely coat the bottom of the frypan) with salt and pepper. Flip them once when brown on one side (HBs) or stir them frequently (AFs). They only take about 10 or 15 minutes, and they burn easy. Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

[ezpickens]

Prolly my favorite veg, and simple, and fitty cent a pound right now.
Bake at 400 degrees, check the smaller ones at 45 minutes, larger take longer.
(Squeeze, should be soft.) They will withstand a lot of cooking if you fall asleep or something. (Experience.)
They need NO embellishment! And keep well even after baking.
Do up an oven full, then reheat in the nuker as needed.

[Apus^2]

Cube 'em, steam 'em, then mash 'em.

Good eats had an episode on them recently. You can bake em' directly on the stove, steam 'em, boiling them leaches the nutrients out of them and because of the starches makes them fall apart, put 'em in waffles, sweet potato pie...

Yams come from Africa...but the names are interchanged. Sweet potatoes from the Americas.