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Sweet Potato Pot Pie with Taleggio Ingredients + + + + + + + +
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 2 red onions, diced 2 large purple-top turnips, diced 2 medium carrots, diced 1/4 pound taleggio cheese, sliced 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 large sheet puff pastry Salt to taste
Directions Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and boil until just tender in salted water. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place onions in an ovenproof saucepan and saute on the stovetop until lightly caramelized. Add the turnips and carrots, place the uncovered saucepan in the oven and roast vegetables until tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Lower oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a pie plate with the sweet potatoes, cover with taleggio slices and then the other vegetables. Pour in the heavy cream, then cover with the puff pastry sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. Yield: 4 to 6 servings. —ANDREW WOOD, Russet
FromRoottoShoot This time of year, marshmallow-topped casseroles and nutmeg-spiked pies have their place at the table. But the humble sweet potato has, oh, so much more to offer. Words by Caroline Russock | Photos by Neal Santos
BEFORE DIVING INTO our intercontinental tour of the many-splendored sweet potato, let’s take a minute to get to know Ipomoea batata. First, we need to get to the bottom of the difference between sweet potatoes and yams. While both tubers are flowering plants (i.e., angiosperms, for you aspiring horticulturists out there), yams are more closely related to the lily family, while sweet potatoes are members of the morning-glory clan. Then, of course, there’s the subject of mistaken sweet-potato identity. Yams, native to Africa, were a staple of the diets of Africans who were enslaved and brought to these shores. They called the native American sweet potatoes yams because of their similar taste and appearance. The USDA has further confused matters by requiring that all Ipomoea batatas be labeled yams, but the words “sweet potatoes” must be included somewhere on the sign or packaging, too. Confused yet? Well, here’s a quick
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and easy way to tell your yam from your sweet potato: The thin-skinned, rosy specimens found in most markets are sweet potatoes; the darker, thickerskinned spuds found mostly in international markets are yams. Now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, let’s get into the sweet potato. We’re all well acquainted with the pies and fries in which this tuber excels, but its versatility runs much, much deeper. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to delve into some of the sweet potato’s lesser-known, globe-trotting iterations available in our fair city. Candied yams are de rigueur this time of year, but in Mexico there’s another kind of candied sweet potato. At Variedades Veracruzana (918 Washington Ave., 215-271-2991), a selection of jewel-like fruits and vegetables are displayed alongside the checkout counter. Jasmine Garcia tells us that camote — slices of sweet potato and pumpkin slowly cooked in white sugar — are a popular treat available from October to December. The earthy, bright-orange, crystalized slices glitter,
retaining that unique sweet-potato creaminess with a bit of sugary crunch. It’s virtually impossible to find a Philly bar without at least one pumpkin beer on tap in the fall, but at Vault Brewing (10 S. Main St., Yardley, 267-573-4291, vaultbrewing.com) they’re doing seasonal brews a little differently. Co-owner James Cain explains why they’ve forgone pumpkin: “Sweet potatoes are much easier to work with and you can actually get flavor out of them,” he says. Taking advantage of the brewpub’s copperclad, wood-fired oven, each batch of Sweet Potato Pale Ale begins with 100 pounds of roasted sweet potatoes that are peeled, mashed and added to the brew along with vanilla, cinnamon, molasses and nutmeg. The result is a nitro-carbonated beer with a thick, creamy head that Cain likens to a dollop of whipped cream on a slice of sweet-potato pie. Other sippable sweet potatoes make their way to the bar by way of shochu, a Japanese distillate brewed with bar>>> continued on page 16