I yam what I yam, unless I'm a sweet potato

[thistlechaser]

So I followed shadowfey's advice on how to cook the yam/sweet potato (I bought one of each and I lost track of which was which). Put it in foil, put a tablespoon of water in, and bake. Other than that the cooking took a lot longer than expected (it was probably a big one), everything went fine. Nothing exploded, the yam/potato didn't run screaming out of my oven and attack my cat.

So about an hour later, it was finally ready. As I started breaking it open, I worried a little. Okay, a lot. The only orange food I've ever eaten before were cupcakes on Halloween. Never had squash, never had pumpkin, never had, well, sweet potato or yam. And it was really, really orange. Bright orange.

So I added butter (more than I usually would for potato) and cinnamon and (though Shadowfey didn't list it) a tiny bit of nutmeg (someone online mentioned adding it). I had no brown sugar, so that had to be left out.

My thought at this point was: Mmm, smells like Thanksgiving! I took that to be a good sign.

So it was time to taste it! Bravely I took a whole forkful, not just a little nibble like I usually do with new things. It was fine and dandy. Dare I say good? It tasted like normal (though extra buttery) potatoes, just a little sweeter.

So yay! The experiment was a success! Especially in winter, when I won't mind leaving the oven on for an hour, this will be a fine meal (or part of a meal). I'll probably continue to leave out the sugar and cut way back on the butter, but other than that, it's in.

Now, if only I knew if it was the yam or the sweet potato...

Comments

[shadowfey.livejournal.com]

They won't usually explode, in a regular convection oven. I don't recommend microwaving them, though, unless you poke many holes in them first.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

They're all sweet potatoes here in the U.S. See this site for an explanation, if you're really interested. (Sorry. Can you tell that I was in the food biz for too long?)

Glad to hear you liked it- it's an excellent source of fiber and beta carotene! :)

[aqouli.livejournal.com]

If I'm not mistaken, a sweet potato is yellow-orange in colour, while yams are purple?
Because throughout my whole life, that's how I refer to them. I think the purple ones have a different name in the states, though. Taro, or something. *shrug*

Yeah, that's education for you. Couldn't tell the difference between root vegetables. :p

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately these are both yellowish-orange in color, totally not purple. The only purple things we have are, um, beets? Or maybe those are red... I know there's some odd breed of potato that's purple/blue, but I think that's rare and expensive.

I say potato, you say yam...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it! And since you did...

Sweet potatoes can be used almost exactly like potatoes--fried, mashed, hash browns, french fries, etc. I tried doing a mashed sweet potatoes thing once. C-- liked it well enough (he likes sweet potatoes). And a vegetarian stuffed squash recipe that had bits of sweet potato in it, I think.

I think you'd like squash, too.

Re: I say potato, you say yam...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, I should try squash as well, yeah! I don't think that's in the stores yet, so I didn't think of it.

I have a lot of potato/yam left over, so I'm going to use it again tonight. I recall my mother making it into a little patty/pancake shape and cooking it in a frying pan with a little butter until it's crispy. I'm going to try that.

Re: I say potato, you say yam...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

There is squash in the store; they tend to sell at least some of them year-round. There are all kinds of squash: pumpkin, butternut, acorn, summer, and speghetti squash is what I see most frequently.

Sugar pumpkins are just coming into season. I really want to make some nice roast pumpkin soup, or pumpkin kadu (an Afghani dish made with pumpkin, spices, and topped with spiced plain yogurt). Butternut squash also makes really good kadu. My favorite acron squash is stuffed, but it is also good just baked and served with some butter and brown sugar.

Re: I say potato, you say yam...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, funny. Maybe I just overlooked them, since for my whole life up until now I never needed to see them or was interested in them...

Re: I say potato, you say yam...

[shadowfey.livejournal.com]

Just look for things that look like they're right out of a Thanksgiving display. They tend to be put on a more visible display around Halloween through Thanksgiving, but the stores usually do have them year-round, just more easily overlooked.

Stirfries are also a good way to go; they do not have to be Asian in origin. But if you chop up a bit of red cabbage and some onion and squash and sautee in olive oil and chopped garlic with a quarter-cup of water, then mix grated cheese in ... it's delightful. The cheese is even optional.

Re: I say potato, you say yam...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm probably not going to get shopping again this week (except Trader Joe's at lunchtime -- a sort of natural foods kind of place), but next week I'll look for them!

Stirfry is on my list as well, but I'm going to go out for that instead of trying to make it myself. My success rate on making things myself is very, very low.

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind, though, that squash are very diverse creatures. Something like summer squash tastes and behaves totally different than acorn squash. It's all good, though, and it's really easy to work with. In the metric assload of squash recipes out there, there are plenty that even you could do. Heck, if all else fails you can just slice it, flour it, and sautee it up.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Cool! A recipe is the key. I'll just find one and follow it as closely as I can.