Family Fun Night

Editing note: For some reason, this post didn’t go out, so I’m resending.   Dinner was last night. 

Whew!  What a great time!  When someone calls and says please make a gumbo for us, it’s hard to resist.  When two sisters gang together, it’s impossible (not that I really wanted to say no to them).  Guess what?

photo from Google images 

A few of my sisters came by for gumbo with rice, sweet potatoes, and cornbread.  Yes we like our starches.  Actually, we like just about anything, but the more fattening it happens to be, the more we tend to like it. 

That means we had both pecan cake and bread pudding for dessert.  Oh, and one sister brought along real butter from the Amish store to slather on the sweet potatoes.  Can you say rich?  I can definitely attest to the fact that there is absolutely no more space in my system.  I am full , stuffed,  and moaning.  I should say we enjoyed the company as much as the food.

straight from the farm

Since I’ve shared my recipe for Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, I’ll share how we bake sweet potatoes.  It’s easy.  First choose your sweet potatoes.  They should, of course, be fresh and firm. Wash the potatoes in cool water and remove any small roots that may still be attached and cut off the tips on each end.   Set the potatoes on paper toweling to dry.  I like to pat the potatoes dry; then cover the outside with margarine or oil.  I simply use my hands to spread the margarine and try not to put too much on each one.  This helps to release the skin when the potatoes are completely done.

right to the table

Bake at 350 degrees for two hours.  I test the potatoes by sticking a fork into the largest ones.  The center should be soft and squishy.  The skin should be easy to remove.  I enjoy the potatoes without any condiments, but Rich always adds butter, sugar and cinnamon to his.   Any potatoes that are left over can be wrapped in foil or placed in freezer bags and frozen, so I always bake a large pan and freeze the extras individually.  They are easy to warm in the microwave.  And are just as good.  

Happy Thanksgiving,

Mary

Marcotte Farms: Sweet Potatoes

Yesterday afternoon I went out to the farm with Richard and snapped a few photos of the sweet potato rows that he'd opened. He and a few other men went out early this morning, as they have every morning for the last week or so, to pick the potatoes off the ground.

We love sweet potatoes and yams and, though they are not the same, people do often use the terms interchangeably.  Sweet potatoes are delicious, can be cooked in a variety of ways, and are nutritious.  (See nutritional info at the end of this post.)

Although Rich has only two acres planted, the crop is looking pretty nice.  We will be eating lots of sweet potatoes in a couple of weeks.  Sweet potatoes need time to cure fully--they dehydrate a bit, the skin thickens and the starches turn to sugar, making them sweeter.  Of course, curing sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) is not absolutely necessary, and they can be eaten right out the field: they're just not as tasty and will not bake.  If you have "green," or fresh sweet potatoes that have not been cured, you need to peel and cut them, then boil them like you would other root vegetables.

Picking potatoes is hot, heavy, dirty work.  (Yes, I've helped, but that was long ago.) The men carry crates out and pick through each cluster of potatoes choosing the better ones first and leaving the second grade potatoes behind.  Once the potatoes are all in wooden crates, they are taken to the storage shed and stacked up until they're sold.  They are left unwashed to cure in storage. When ready for sale, we take them out to wash and regrade, then put them in cardboard boxes.  The wooden crates are stored in the shed to reuse.

How to bake:

When you get your potatoes, wash them well and remove any blemishes or stems with a small peeler.  Leave the skin on and slather on the butter.  Butter, margarine, or your favorite oil (you choose but be generous) will help keep the juices inside the root, add flavor, and help to release the peelings when the baking is done.  Place the veggies in a shallow pan lined with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or so.  The baking time will vary depending on the size of the potato and how well it's been cured.  Potatoes that are small in diameter will bake much faster than those that are big.  I generally begin checking them after an hour.  A gentle squeeze will tell you how soft they are but you can also prick one with a fork.  When they're really soft and squishy, remove them.  If necessary let the bigger ones bake a little longer. 

When I cook a big pan of potatoes, I take out the smallest ones and spread out the others so the heat can around them better.  I also use my convection oven since it speeds up the baking, but I've baked lots in the regular oven, and either one works well.

Need sweet potatoes?  Email me, I think we can hook you up! 

For more information, click on the links below: 

NUTRITION INFORMATION from U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

1 medium sweet potato counts as 1 cup in the 

MyPyramid.gov Vegetable Group. For a 2,000-

calorie diet, the daily recommendation 

is about 2 ½ cups of vegetables. 

1 medium sweet potato provides more than a 

day’s worth of vitamin A and 35% of the daily 

recommended amount of vitamin C.

Nutrition information from nutritiondata.com

Fats 0g

Cholestrol 0g

Sodium 73mg

Total Carbohydrates 27g

Fiber 4g

Sugar 6g

Protein 2g