I looked over at Jeff thinking: Great, these Southerners don't know the difference between a sweet potato and a yam.
At the same time the farmer looked over at his wife behind the cash box thinking: Great, another Yankee who doesn't know the first thing about potatoes.
He then explained to me that a yam is really just an orange-fleshed sweet potato. Unlike their white-fleshed counterparts, however, these tubers are so sweet that even when eaten plain they taste like sugar has been added to them. In fact, that first week I used them to make a sweet potato pie (from a wonderful recipe from this same farmer). I brought him a piece the next weekend. Who would have known that the simple sweet potato (er, yam) could be the basis of a rapprochement of the North and South.
I tossed this recipe together recently with some fresh citrus and ginger to add a little sparkle. I've also used winter squash or carrots instead of yams.
Baked Yams with a Citrus Glaze and Toasted Pecans
Makes 2 servings.
Print recipe only here.
1 large yam
Some cooking spray or a little olive oil for coating the yam
1 tsp butter
¼ cup orange or tangerine juice
1 tsp of good honey
About 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger
About 1 tsp of orange zest
About 1 tsp of lemon zest
A pinch of ground cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
Some salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped, toasted pecans for garnish
To toast the pecans, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Layer the pecans on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly toasty and aromatic.
Bump up the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil (for easy clean-up). Slice a yam in half, lengthwise, and coat the flesh with some cooking spray or a little olive oil; place face down on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces it. Remove from oven, and let cool.
Meanwhile, in a small pan over medium-low heat, whisk the butter, orange juice, and honey until combined. Add the remaining ingredients, and heat for a couple of minutes, until it begins to slightly thicken and bubble up.
Once the yams are cooled, scoop out the cooked flesh, and place it in a bowl. Pour the citrus glaze on top, and mix well. Add toasted pecans.
Serving Suggestion: This pairs well with pan-seared tofu or pork.
26 comments:
Ooooh -- honey, ginger, cinnamon and sweet potato -- what could be bad???? I've been trying to eat more sweet potatoes (or are they yams?) lately, as they are so nutritionally powerful. Thanks for the recipe.
I never was a big fan of sweet potatoes, but over the years I've grown to appreciate 'em!
YUM!
Oh, this looks delicious - I love sweet potatoes in their plain and unadorned state, so this would be a wonderful way to dress them up a bit!
Susan,
I'm stunned by the color of this dish - so beautiful and vibrant!
I had a laugh with your story. ;)
oh how wonderfully warm and sweet. i've been in the mood for just this lately! is it cold in CA? seems like it by the way you've been cooking :) thanks for sharing this - the citrus is the perfect marriage for this dish!
i LOVE sweet potatoes/yams! i will try them this way...it sounds really great!
You can't go wrong with pecans, citrus and sweet potatoes..
Thanks for solving the age old debate of what's a yam, and what's a sweet potato. And the recipe sounds excellent - a good example of Yankee ingenuity!
Lydia-
Whatever they are, they're wonderful! Thanks!
Jeff-
Glad to hear it!
Rachel-
:)
Gilly-
I know, just roasted with nothing on them, and I still love 'em.
Patricia-
Ooh, thanks so much! Glad it made you smile.:)
Linda-
"Cold"? Well...It's about 67 right now but overcast and windy. So I'm feeling pretty chilly. But I heard Buffalo has had 8 ft. of snow and is excpecting 2 more, so I'll shut up now.
Cinderelly-
Thanks! I hope you like it!
Melody-
You are so right!
T.W.-
Spoken like a true Yankee. Thanks!
I'm a total sweet potato addict - I can't get enough of them, especially the "red garnet" variety. And I love citrus and sweet potatoes so this recipe is right up my alley! Thanks for sharing =)
Oh I am laughing - relieved I am not the only one who has had "experiences" moving away from New England. I can't wait to hear about other encounters!
Great recipe! Sounds deee-lish!
lis-
Red garnets are the kind I buy! I love them too.
Chris-
Thanks for coming by. I have plenty of "experiences" to share.... :b
I just made crispy tofu stix with sweet potatoes the other night. They do go well together.
Oh yummy yams you've cooked here:)
I've always wondered if yams belonged to the same family as sweet potatoes, thanks for highlighting this!
One of our favorite sweet potato rendition is mashed sweet potatoes with chipotle, a recipe from Alton Brown. It's so delicious and yours looks great, I love the addition of pecans.
Ari (Baking and Books)
Hey FoodBlogga - My office serves free lunch and recently, they have been serving up a lot of this yam...exactly like the one you made...I was confused like you too, because I always think of yam as the white color variety...thanks for explaining. :)
Very yummy--I just fixed a sweet potato souffle that even my veggie-phobic husband will eat. I love yams/sweet potatoes/whatever you want to call them.
I had something like this on Thanksgiving and it was my absoloute favorite part of the meal. The yams were pureed and baked with sugared pecans on top. I bet this is just as good. I'll have to try it!
Susan, before I read your post, I thought yam and sweet potato were different too!
I love sweet potatoes/yams too and until I read your post have always thought they were different.
I wonder how much collective time in the world has been wasted by people like me looking for one of these when we could only find the other? It's probably a lot of time. Oh well...
I love sweet potato pie and and oven fried sweet potatoes, which I may make tonight...
Urban Vegan-
I'll trade you some sweet potatoes for some tofu stix. :)
Valentina-
You're welcome!
Ari-
Thanks! Mmm, the heat from the chipotle must contrast nicely with the sweet yams.
Rasa Malaysia-
You're welcome!
Michelle-
Sweet potato souffle? Sounds wonderful!
Natalia-
Thanksgiving is the ultimate food day! Thanks, hope you like it!
Gattina-
I hear ya! :)
Anali-
Since that first sweet potato pie, I've been hooked!
Those pictures are so vibrant and full of color! Very well done!
Kristen-
Thanks so much!
I hate to go against the info of a farmer, but I lived in West Africa for a couple of years, and there really is a difference between yams and sweet potatoes...it's just that we don't have true yams in America. Here we have used the terms "yam" and "sweet potato" interchangeably for the same thing.
A real yam has a white flesh and is a lot like a potato but except a little more dense (not a real good description)...I know that I can't prove that I know what I'm talking about, but I just stumbled upon your blog and thought I'd share what I knew...
Just found your blog the other day – beautiful.
I'm gonna have to agree with Sandi - sweet potatoes and yams are two different plants, but the names “sweet potato” and “yam” are used interchangeably in the US for the sweet, orange-fleshed tuberous root you used in your recipe. What you're using is really a sweet potato. (Sorry, I work with plants and am a nerd like that.)
What is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam.
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