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

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.