Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday, and a Spanish pal Bink and I met on Camino, Fidel, is coming to celebrate with us. I'm making Stella's Yams, which in the tradition of many Thanksgiving main-course dishes could just as well be a dessert.
Stella was a British journalist I knew in Chicago, who seemed to relish the most decadent Thanksgiving foods. You could easily adapt this recipe to be low-fat and all that, but that would be wrong. (It is, however, naturally gluten-free!)
Stella's Yams
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (1 8-oz. package) dried apricots
1/4 cup (1 stick) butter
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 Tablespoon cornstarch (+ 2 T cold water)
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
2 16-oz. cans sweet potatoes, drained
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Chop apricots into large pieces.
3. Place apricots in small pan, and cover with water. Bring to boil, then simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, until apricots are soft.
4. Drain apricots, saving 1 cup of the liquid.
5. Melt butter (on stove or in microwave). Stir lemon peel into butter.
6. Mix cornstarch with 2 T cold water. Add to 1 cup reserved liquid from apricots. Simmer 1-2 minutes on stove, until it thickens.
7. Stir cornstarch mix into to melted butter.
8. Mix dry ingredients (nuts, sugar, spices) together in a bowl.
9. Pour butter mix into dry ingredients. Mix well.
10. Gently fold the mix with the sweet potatoes. Pour into baking dish.
11. Bake 1 hour or so, until bubbly hot all the way through.
I just want to vouch for this being the tastiest yam dish every. Desert or main course...it's sooo good!
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks like the sweetest kind of yam dish; the only way they're appreciated around here. Yay for no gluten!
ReplyDeleteKnowing a couple gluten-free folks now, I notice how many wonderful foods are naturally no-gluten anyway--not that this counts as "healthy" exactly otherwise! Though more so than mainlining sugar. : )
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