Sweet potatoes: Versatile, nutritious, delicious

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Many folks can't imagine a Thanksgiving dinner without sweet potatoes, and it's no wonder. Since at least the 19th century, this tuber has been an integral part of the feast, according to "The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink" (Oxford University Press, $49.95).

That's a lot of years to come up with recipes for this versatile food. Some of them are shared here, including sweet potato stuffing for turkey (for those who want to combine two traditional Thanksgiving ingredients) and sweet potato biscuits (for ambitious cooks who don't mind making them at the last minute).

A couple of cooks joined in the fun, with Mary Ali from Salaam Seafood in downtown Fresno, Calif., contributing the restaurant's popular (and very buttery) candied yams. Jeanne Logan of Ellen's Daughter's Cooking Classes shared her sweet potato pie.

And, finally, here's a nod to the health conscious: a streuseled sweet potato casserole from Cooking Light magazine. At 250 tasty calories a serving, it's a favorite at the Thanksgiving table of Fresno Bee features editor Kathy Mahan.

Don't get too caught up in counting calories, however. The sweet potato has so many nutrients _ including protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin A _ that it almost makes up for some of the sugar and butter added to it. After all, it is Thanksgiving.

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SWEET POTATO YOGURT OR BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Makes 10 or more biscuits, depending on size

2 cups all-purpose or cake flour, plus more as needed

1 scant teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2-5 tablespoons cold butter (more is better)

1 cup pureed, cooked sweet potato or winter squash

Up to ľ cup yogurt or buttermilk

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl or food processor. Cut the butter into bits and either pulse it in the food processor (the easiest) or, if you're using a bowl, pick up a bit of the dry ingredients and rub them with the butter between your fingers and drop them again. All the butter should be thoroughly blended into the flour mixture before you proceed.

Pulse a couple of times or use a large spoon to stir in pureed, cooked sweet potato or winter squash. Repeat with yogurt or buttermilk, adding only enough to form the dough into a ball, usually between ˝ and ľ cup (if your sweet potatoes are very dry, you may need the whole amount).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it 10 times; no more. If it is very sticky, add a little flour, but very little; it should still stick slightly to your hands.

Press the dough into a ˝-inch-thick rectangle and cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or glass. Put the rounds on greased baking sheets. Gently reshape the leftover dough and cut again.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the biscuits are a beautiful golden brown. Serve within 15 minutes for them to be at their best.

_"How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food," by Mark Bittman (Wiley, $35)

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CANDIED SWEET POTATOES

Makes about 15-20 servings

2-3 jumbo, orange-fleshed yams (see notes)

2 quarts water

1˝ cups sugar

1/8 cup nutmeg

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1˝ sticks butter (see notes)

1˝ tablespoons vanilla

˝ of a (15-ounce can) crushed pineapple, drained (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and cut yams into small pieces. Place in a large baking pan. Set aside.

Add water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add butter and vanilla. Cook until syrupy. Pour over uncooked yams and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir in crushed pineapple. Re-cover with foil and return to oven. Cook for 30 minutes more.

Serve immediately, or cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat in microwave.

Notes: Salaam Seafood uses yams that are 8 inches long (or more). If you can't find jumbo yams, substitute accordingly.

This results in very buttery sweet potatoes. Reduce butter if you'd like a lighter dish.

_Mary Ali, Salaam Seafood

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SWEET POTATO PIE

Makes 2 pies

2 large or 4 medium orange-fleshed sweet potatoes

1 pound butter

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon nutmeg

1˝ teaspoons vanilla extract

1˝ teaspoons lemon extract (optional)

3 eggs, beaten

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

2 Pillsbury, 9-inch, regular, unbaked pie crusts in pie pans

Wash the sweet potatoes. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Boil until fork tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the potatoes are done, drain water and peel. Transfer sweet potatoes to a large bowl and mash them. Stir in butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and lemon extract, if using. Taste to make sure the sweet potatoes are seasoned well. Add eggs and milk, then stir until mixture has the consistency of pancake batter.

Push the mixture through a strainer. Pour the strained mixture into the pie crusts, leaving about Ľ inch of crust uncovered just below the rim. Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until the pie is firm to the touch. (To ensure even baking, rotate the pans halfway through cooking.)

Remove from oven, cool pie completely, then cut and serve.

(If you have leftover filling, place it in a small baking dish, top with marshmallows, and bake along with the pies. But watch the cooking time.)

_Jeanne Logan, Ellen's Daughter's Cooking Classes

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SWEET POTATO AND APPLE STUFFING

Makes about 8 cups

Put in a large pot and add water to cover:

2 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until tender. Drain. When cool enough to handle, remove the skins and mash the potatoes in a large bowl.

Heat in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the foam subsides:

2 tablespoons butter

Add and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes:

1 ˝ cups chopped onions

˝ cup chopped celery

˝ teaspoon salt

Ľ teaspoon black pepper

Add and cook, stirring, until the apples are tender but still hold their shape, 3 to 4 minutes:

2 cups diced, peeled apples, such as Granny Smith or Golden Delicious

˝ cup apple cider

Ľ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ľ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

Ľ teaspoon ground cloves

Stir into the sweet potatoes, along with:

2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs

Adjust the seasonings and moisten, if needed, with:

(Ľ cup chicken or vegetable stock or broth)

Use as a stuffing, or turn into a buttered large shallow baking dish and dot with:

Ľ cup (˝ stick) butter, cut into small pieces

Stuffing is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. To prepare in a pan, bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.

For sweet potato and sausage stuffing:

This makes about 9 cups, enough to stuff a 14- to 17-pound turkey. Cook until browned 8 ounces bulk sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a fork. Remove it from the pan. Prepare sweet potato and apple stuffing, above, cooking the vegetables in the sausage drippings instead of butter and adding the cooked sausage with bread crumbs.

_"75th Anniversary Joy of Cooking," by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker (Scribner, $30)

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STREUSELED SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Makes 18 servings (serving size is about ˝ cup)

14 cups (1-inch) cubed, peeled sweet potato (about 5 pounds)

˝ cup half-and-half

˝ cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

ľ teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

˝ cup all-purpose flour

˝ cups packed brown sugar

Ľ cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

˝ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place sweet potato in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Combine the half-and-half and next 4 ingredients (half-and-half through egg) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add potato to egg mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon potato mixture into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine flour and sugar in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add chilled butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans; sprinkle over potato mixture.

Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes or until the topping is browned and the potatoes are thoroughly heated.

Note: Add 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper if you want to add a bit of heat to this sweet dish.

To make ahead: Assemble the sweet potato mixture and sprinkle with the streusel, then freeze the casserole up to 2 weeks ahead of Thanksgiving. Thaw in the refrigerator and bake as directed. Or cook the sweet potatoes a day ahead, mash and refrigerate and proceed with the recipe as directed (starting with the addition of half-and-half) the day you're serving the dish.

Nutritional values per serving: 250 calories, (23 percent from fat); 6.3 grams fat ( 2.4 grams saturated, 1 gram polyunsaturated, 2.5 grams monounsaturated); 22 milligrams cholesterol, 149 milligrams sodium, 46.1 grams carbohydrates, 2.7 grams fiber, 3.3 grams protein, 1.2 milligrams iron, 49 milligrams calcium.

_Cooking Light, November 2002

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SWEET POTATO AND PARSNIP PUREE

Makes 4 servings

1 Ľ pounds sweet potatoes (2 small), peeled and cut into ˝-inch pieces

1 ˝ pounds parsnips (about 4), peeled and cut into Ľ-inch-thick slices

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Ľ cup whole milk

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

˝ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a 3 ˝ _ to 4-quart saucepan of well-salted water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and parsnips and boil gently, uncovered, until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a food processor.

Add butter and puree until smooth. Add milk, sugar and salt and process until well blended. Season with pepper.

_"The Gourmet Cookbook," edited by Ruth Reichl (Houghton Mifflin Co., $40)

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© 2008, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.).